


i swear i know you from another time

by myheartislikeastallion



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV), The 100 (TV), clexa - Fandom
Genre: F/F, Original Character(s), Zombie Apocalypse, clexa fandom - Freeform, elyza lex is bae, i'm trash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-25 20:51:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6209671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myheartislikeastallion/pseuds/myheartislikeastallion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elyza Lex: Badass Aussie zombie slayer and how she meets and falls in love with her soulmate, Alicia Clark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. chapter i

**Author's Note:**

> I jumped on that Lexark train so fast, guys. Here have some fic that I’m not really sure where it’s headed. But, I'm gonna try to update as often as I can. I'll try not to turn this into a trainwreck.

She wasn’t afraid. She was never afraid. She rode slowly down the abandoned street of some neighborhood on her motorbike, her head on a constant swivel - just in case a walker took her by surprise. Her blonde hair blew gently in the breeze, swept away from her face only by the aviators that sat across the bridge of her nose. Her two barrel shotgun slung across her back while her 9mm sat securely on her hip, ready to be drawn in a moments notice.  
And that moment came.  
  
A distant scream drew Elyza’s attention. She revved her bike and made her way towards it, dodging discarded belongings and cars left abandoned on the street. She raced as quickly as she could towards the sounds, arriving just in time to see a small pack of walkers surround a girl. Elyza revved her bike one more time, drawing the attention of one or two just long enough to skid to a stop and pull out her pistol. She fired two rounds, easily hitting them both in the head and watched as the exploding skulls drew the attention of the rest.  
  
Elyza abandoned her bike for just a moment and approached the stumbling corpses, pulling her shotgun off her back to fire the two rounds in her chambers. The last walker stumbled towards her, oblivious to its companions demise. She tilted her head as it approached, taking her time in pulling out her hunting knife from its sheath on her hip before puncturing the thing’s skull in one swift movement. Dark, rotting blood splattering across her white shirt and leather jacket in thick globs that made Elyza’s nose wrinkle in annoyance more than disgust.  
  
As the last walker let out a final groan and dropped to the ground Elyza finally met the girl’s eyes. She breathed in sharply, taken aback by this young beauty, drawn in by her green eyes that sparkled with tears. “You’re alright now,” she finally spoke, her Aussie accent lilting her words. She offered out a hand to the girl, rolling her eyes as she just stared at it. “Well…? I don’t have all day to help you up, waiting for the next pack of walkers to come by….”  
  
Alicia stuttered a bit before grasping the hand offered to her and pushing off the ground. “Thank you,” she said softly. She brushed her hands across her pants, wiping away the dirt and sweat that had collected there. “I thought I was going to die, and-” her breath hitched in a muffled sob, “thank you….”  
  
Elyza smiled at her and reached out to touch her arm before thinking the better of it and drawing her hand back. “Don’t mention it.” Her eyes took a moment to rake over the girl’s form, smirking at the way she blushed under her gaze. “What’s your name, cutie?”  
  
“Alicia… Clark. Alicia Clark,” she said more confidently the second time after swallowing a lump in her throat. She clears her throat and crosses her arms defiantly, “You?”  
  
“Elyza Lex, sweetie-pie,” she says with a smirk that _totally doesn’t_ make Alicia’s cheeks tint a shade of pink. “Now, how did a sweet girl like yourself come to be all alone out her, hmm?” She took a step towards Alicia, her posture predatory, but she kept her eyes playful so Alicia would know she meant her no harm.  
  
She sighed and looked down at her scratched up palms. “I got separated from my family,” Alicia explains. “My mom told me to run, and I did… like a little bitch.”  
  
Elyza’s eyes softened at that. She could tell Alicia was worried about her family and felt guilty for leaving them. “No,” she said sternly. “You did the right thing. You stayed alive. That’s what your mom wanted.”  
  
A scoff erupted from Alicia’s throat. “Yeah, until you had to come and save my ass.”  
  
Elyza arched perfectly shaped eyebrow at that. “What a nice ass it is....” she flirted, her eyes flicking down to the girl’s hips. “I’d say it was worth it.” She smiles at the way Alicia blushes. “Do you want me to help you find your family?” The girl’s eyes light up and she nods once, sharply. “Then come with me if you want to live,” Elyza did her best Schwarzenegger impression, her accent, admittedly making it a little more difficult. Alicia rolled her eyes, but took the blonde’s hand anyway and climbed onto the back of the bike. Her arms wrapped tightly around the girl’s middle. “I knew this bike was a good idea. The ladies _always_ dig motorbikes.” Alicia rolled her eyes once again but tightened her hold anyways as Elyza sped off down the street.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Tumblr; myheart-islike-astallion; for more musings, possible sinning, and lots of trashtastic squealing over this imaginary babe.


	2. chapter ii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's getting late and Elyza and Alicia need to find somewhere to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! This is a pretty quick update for me, please don't expect this all the time. But I'm really happy that you guys are enjoying it.

“Do you have any idea where you’re going?” Alicia snapped, trying to be heard over the whipping wind around her face as she gripped onto her companion from the back of her motorbike.

Elyza scoffed. “Do _you_? You’re the one who needs to find your family. Me? I’m just wasting gas driving all about this bloody town!” She slowed down to a stop in the middle of the road. “You said you ran from this direction, right?” Alicia nodded against the girl’s back. “Well… where was it you ran from?”

Alicia was silent. She remembered it being sort of in the center of town. She remembered seeing a clock tower not far from where she left her mother… and a church somewhere along the way as she ran. Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she tried to pulled apart her memory. All she wanted was to find her family…. A sigh broke Alicia out of her reverie and she gripped onto Elyza’s hips as the bike suddenly started moving… in the opposite direction.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

“It’s getting dark. We need to find a safe place to sleep for the night,” Elyza stated matter of factly. Alicia huffs, and Elyza can’t help but smirk. “We won’t be able to find your family if we’re too tired to defend ourselves. We have to clear out a house or something and settle down… for the night.” She thinks the girl might say more; complain, give a little quip, but she just sighs in defeat and tightens her arms around Elyza’s middle as she speeds off down the long, empty street.

//

They find a tiny house a little farther away from everything. There isn’t much around, but Elyza noticed a few shops they could raid in the morning if they had a need to. It’s a good thing that Elyza suggested finding some place to hole up for the night, because she can feel Alicia nodding off against her back. She smiles and pulls the bike into the driveway, cutting off the engine and making the low rumbling gently sputter to silence.

Elyza sits up a bit, turning in her seat to look back at the girl. She’s truly gorgeous; all full lips, and thick brown hair, sparkling green eyes that look up with some sort of anguish that Elyza just want to make go away. “We’ll stop here for the night. Just… help me make sure it’s all clear?” Alicia nods her head and gets off the bike, rubbing her sleepy eyes. Elyza takes the lead, checking her 9mm, but decides to take the quieter route and pulls out her hunting knife instead, though her hand hovers over the pistol… just in case.

After checking every corner of the house, Elyza is satisfied and puts away her knife. She takes off her leather jacket, lips curling at the blood she sees spattered on it, and drapes it over the arm of the couch.

Alicia heads to the back door, looking around the gated yard and notices a swing set, the chains swinging ominously in the breeze. She makes her way over to it and sits down on one of the seats, kicking herself into a steady pace.

“Hey! I found some-” Elyza stops when she sets eyes on the girl, enjoying a bit of peace. She smiles and leans against the threshold of the door, but Alicia stops herself when she hears the squeaking of the screen door. “Sorry, didn’t want to disturb you,” Elyza says with a smirk. “You looked so peaceful. Happy….”

She frowns. “I’m not. Not really. I just always liked to swing.” She gets off the seat, kicking up a bit of dirt and pads across the yard to the house. “What’d you find?” She doesn’t wait for Elyza to answer, just takes the can from her hands. “Refried beans? Really?”

Elyza shrugs. “It’s better than going hungry. I know it’s so zombie apocalypse, and you’re teen angst probably can’t handle how _totally blasé_ that is, but it’s all we’ve got right now.” Alicia is stunned into silence before narrowing her eyes and pushing past the blonde into the house.

“And how do you plan on heating this up? No microwaves, remember?” Alicia crosses her arms as she stands in the middle of the kitchen.

Elyza has to laugh. “Good God, have you ever cooked a meal for yourself that didn’t come in a package?” She points to the stove. “It still has a gas range, no electricity needed. Just get a pot, turn it on, and make sure you don’t burn the only food we have right now.”

She chuckles when Alicia rolls her eyes again as she turns her back, looking at the stove. She gives the thing a once over before turning the handle. The gas hisses, but no flame shoots out, and she turns back to Elyza with a puzzled look on her face.

The blonde walks over and pulls out her lighter, holding it to the gas and pulling back quickly once the flame catches. “Pots are underneath, I think,” she says, pulling a pack of Marlboro Reds from her back pocket, taking out a cig and placing it between her lips. She lights it quickly and shoves both the pack and her lighter back into her pocket.

“You smoke too?” Alicia’s lips turn up in disgust. “ _God_ , could you be more of a cliche?”

“I don’t know, could _you_ be more of a brat?” Elyza chuckles and puffs out a cloud of smoke, but being courteous and blows it in the opposite direction of the girl. Alicia huffs and turns back to the stove. Elyza smirks because she definitely won this round.

//

“I’ll clean. You cooked.” Elyza insists, taking Alicia’s plate and stacking it beneath her bowl.

“I heated, there’s a difference.” She snapped, taking the stack back. “I want to help,” she says a little more softly.

Elyza bites the inside of her lip in thought before gathering the utensils up and walking over to the stove. “Then we both clean. I wash, you dry.” She tosses a dish towel at the girl once she sets the pile on the counter near the sink. She nods and waits for Elyza to fill the pot with water.

“Why did you save me?”

The question kind of takes Elyza by surprise. “What?” Alicia just looks at her, wide eyes waiting for an answer. “I dunno,” she shrugs. “I was in the neighborhood and I heard a scream. I just… went towards it.” The water was cold as she stuck her hands in, scrubbing the food residue off the side of the pot. “There’s already enough death in this world. I might as well try not to let any more happen.”

There’s a silence for a while before Alicia places her hand on top of Elyza’s. “Thank you,” she says softly. “I don’t think I ever properly did that.” More silence. They just stare into each other’s eyes for a long moment. Alicia leaning in, unbalanced and wavering, her fingers curl against Elyza’s palm. “You were brave…” she says lowly, her voice rasping a little. She watches as Elyza’s blue eyes flicker down to her lips and slowly rake over her face. She can feel the tension and almost lets it collide, but she panics and pulls away, yanking the sponge from Elyza’s hand. “You’re going too slow,” she admonishes before pushing her towel at Elyza’s chest.

They stand in silence for a little more, Alicia trying to wash up as quickly as she can. She’s tired and she just wants to go to bed. At least… that’s what she tells herself. It has nothing at all to do with not being able to stand in silence with this girl. Or about how it actually almost feels comfortable. She passes the last bowl over to Elyza who wipes it dry and sets it onto the counter with the rest.

Alicia’s eye flicker down to where the blonde’s shirt gapes, noticing a broken infinity tattooed across her collarbone. “Nice tat,” she says. Elyza smirks, pulling her collar away a bit to show it off a little more.

“Thanks,” she says, leaning boldly against the counter, a smirk firmly in place on her lips. “I got it back home, in Melbourne, before I left.”

“Why did you leave?” Elyza’s smirk drops. She takes a moment and turns away from Alicia. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, I guess. I was… just curious.”

Elyza smiles, a little sadly Alicia would say. “It’s fine. I just… had to leave is all.”

Alicia snickered. “Well, that’s ominous. What’d you do? Kill somebody?”

“And if I had!? Would it matter now? With all of… _this_ going on!? Does our past matter at a-”

“Hey!” Alicia snapped, quieting the older girl quickly. “I don’t think you killed someone. You may be some badass walking dead slayer, but I don’t think you could ever kill another human being.” Elyza’s eyes flicked away from Alicia’s searching gaze. “Maybe… not unless they really deserved it.”

“And how would you know!?” Elyza snapped, perhaps a little more rudely than intended.

Alicia’s eyes softened. “Because you saved me.” That gave Elyza pause. Her back straightened and Alicia saw her breath catch in her throat. “Anyone who could kill someone without a real reason… they wouldn’t pause and try to help someone who was sure to die, putting themselves in danger. They wouldn’t-”

Her hand shot up, silencing the girl. “I get it. You think I’m a kind soul.” They both smile at each other with soft eyes. “Sorry for snapping,” Elyza apologized.

She looked up, peeking from behind a curtain of brown hair. “You don’t have to apologize. I understand.” She stepped towards her, pausing just in front of, feeling heat of her body and making a deep blush crawl up her neck to tint her cheeks. Her mouth was dry and… Elyza’s fingers were suddenly brushing her’s lightly, carefully testing the waters before grasping her hand fully.

“It’s getting late. We should get some rest.” She pulls Alicia further into the house, into the back room… the bedroom. “There’s only one bed. You should have it.” Her fingers uncurl from around the girl’s hand.

Alicia stops her, holding their hands together. “That’s not fair to you. You can’t just sleep on the floor.” Her lips curl in disgust. “It’s _gross_ ,” she says, kicking a pile of clothes next to an empty pizza box.

Elyza’s eyebrow arches, “And what do you suggest then, cutie? Sharing? That’s a pretty small bed for me not to-”

“I trust you,” Alicia says and it makes Elyza stop. Like, its the first time she’s ever heard the words directed at her. “Just… whatever. I’m gonna get ready for bed.” Finally, they unclasp hands and she heads to the bathroom, taking off her jacket and laying it on the bed as she passes.

Elyza watches her go, head tilting to the side as she takes in the view. _This is going to end with me getting smacked. I just just… feel it_ , she thinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cute, fluffy domestic Lexark followed by slightly angsty Lexark is always a good chapter right? Hope you liked it, let me know what you think.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr; myheart-islike-astallion; for more musings, possible sinning, and lots of trashtastic squealing over this imaginary babe.


	3. chapter iii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some bloody stuff ahead, just so you guys know. And I'm changing the warning on the fic too... because I care about y'all.

Elyza let out a soft groan as the early morning sun filtered in through the blinds, laying softly across her eyes. She turned her head to escape waking up just a little longer, but her face was smothered by a sweet smelling head of hair. She blinked her eyes open and smiled, inhaling deeply. Her arms curled around the body in front of her, running her thumb across knuckles until the body sighed sleepily.

“‘Lyza?” Alicia grumbled, looking down the length of her body to watch as the blonde behind her touched her tenderly. It reminded her of how Matt had held her so sweetly as he drew on her forearm. She twisted said arm and looked down at the heart shaped rose that she had permanently inked into her skin, rather sloppily, unfortunately. It didn’t do it justice.

“Looks like you got some ink too, huh, cutie?” Elyza’s voice was raspy from sleep and her breath brushed across her cheeks and she tilted her head up at the sound. “Yeah, I’m awake.” She slowly slides her arm down Alicia’s body, pulling away and rolling onto her back. “Looks pretty rough. Almost like you got it in your year in the pen.” She let out a raspy chuckle and sat up, looking over at the girl with smiling, tired eyes and wild hair pushed to one side. At Alicia’s silence her smile dropped. “I’m gonna guess that it’s not something you want joked about, huh?”

Alicia broke out of her trance, looking over her shoulder at the blonde before swinging her legs over the side of the bed and sitting up. “No, it’s fine. I did it myself….”

Elyza’s brow arched at that. “Yourself? What for?” Alicia was silent again. “What does the tattoo mean?” She knew she probably shouldn’t have been pushing, but she was curious. The silence persisted and Elyza decided to take her own advice and just shut up about it. She sighed and turned her back to the girl, pulling on her jeans she had discarded onto the floor the night before as Alicia had suggested she do. It was surprising to say the least, but Alicia said that as long as she kept her underwear on - a nice comfy pair of boxer briefs the girl had eyed and laughed at a little before turning her head to hide a blush - they would be square.

Just as Elyza was pulling on her boots she heard Alicia’s voice again. “His name was Matt,” she said quietly. She took a moment and turned to look at the blonde on the other side of the bed. “He was my boyfriend… before everything. He is… was an artist…. Right before everything… he drew this on my arm. After he died… I wanted to keep it, but it had started to fade away so… I improvised.” She fell back into silence, her eyes trained on the empty bed as a tear rolled down her cheek.

The silence was deafening and Elyza couldn’t stand it. She reached across the bed and laid her hand gently on top of the other girl’s, smiling tenderly. “It’s beautiful,” she offers and pulls her hand back when she sees Alicia crack a smile again.

They dress in silence. Coming back out to the kitchen and scrounging up some food for breakfast. It isn’t much. There’s one banana that hasn’t completely rotted away so they decide to split that. A few handfuls of granola left in the pantry and they had stripped the little shack bare of any more food.

Alicia suggests going into town and raiding a few shops they saw for supplies. Elyza asks if she’s sure she doesn’t just want to look for her family, but the girl drops her head and shrugs, looking up at Elyza through her lashes. Watching her eyes peer around the waterfall of brown hair definitely doesn’t give Elyza a little tickle in her stomach. _"The girl is straight, you dill!"_

She turns her back and grabs her jacket from the table. The blood from the day before had dried and Elyza didn’t feel like scratching it off with her nails so she decided just to leave it for now. Tugging on her aviators, Elyza climbed onto her bike, offering her hand to Alicia to help her on as well before speeding off.

//

They found a Walmart not far from them and it was almost too good an opportunity to pass up. Guns, ammo, food, water, clothes… and almost anything else they needed. The trouble was just making sure it was clear; but Elyza had two guns and her favorite knife, and Alicia had found a baseball bat in the house just before they left so the blonde wasn’t worried. The other girl, however, shook a little as Elyza cut off the engine on her bike, parking it right outside the superstore’s entrance.

“It’s alright, lil’ bit. Elyza is here to protect you,” she said with a wink. That made Alicia roll her eyes and Elyza was satisfied that she’s quelled the girl’s nerves enough. Her shotgun leads them in, Alicia is content to hide behind Elyza for the most part, and Elyza is alright with that. Keeping Alicia safe is her main priority right now, and keeping her close is how she does that, and so long as Alicia doesn’t over crowd her she should be safe.

Raspy groaning can be heard from around the corner and Elyza cocks her gun once more. She looks around and finds a wall of pots hung against a tackboard near them. Reaching behind her she snatches Alicia’s bat, getting a hushed “Hey!” She waves her off and swings the bat at them, knocking quite a few off the wall and creating a loud ruckus, guaranteed to draw in as many walkers are in the store.

A few more groans join in a chorus to the first and about six of them all come hobbling out from the aisles and from around the corners of walls. Shrugging, Elyza hands the bat back to Alicia and gives her a wink. “Aim for their heads, don’t let them on you. I’m right here,” she assures the girl and she gets a short nod in response.

Turning back around she sees an elderly woman with gray hair coming out in patches, wearing a house dress with a gaudy floral print and clogs. She rolls her eyes, approaching the walker with swagger, “You know, I know people think ‘it’s just Walmart! I’ll pop to the shop and hop right back home, no need to dress up.’ And that’s all well ‘nd good, lady,” Elyza lets out a grunt as she swings the butt of her shotgun, smacking the woman in the head with a hollow thunk, “but that’s no excuse for those shoes.” She stomps the heel of her boot into the dead woman’s skull and Alicia flinches away at the sight of her head nearly exploding like a dropped melon. “Ugh,” Elyza muses, shaking the goo off of her boot. “Remind me not to do that again,” she says, turning back to Alicia.

The girl gasps and barely gets out a strangled “Elyza!” before another walker groans and is on the blonde’s back. She grunts, flipping the thing over her back and pulling back the butt of her gun one more time to bring it down, into the man’s head. “Less talk, more walker slaying! Alright, Xena?”

Elyza lets out a chortle of laughter as she lets off her first shot into the head of a walker coming at her. “While I appreciate the compliment of calling me a warrior,” another shot, another dead walker dropping to the ground, “don’t mix your references, gumdrop.” Elyza pulls out her knife and slides it into the eye of the next zombie that reaches for her. “Xena was the warrior princess… _Buffy_ was the Slayer.”

“Ugh! Does that really matter right now!?” Alicia throws up her hands in frustration, distracted by the girl just long enough for a walker to walk out from behind some shelves and wrap its arms around her shoulder. Alicia lets out a scream, flailing her bat, but just barely conking the thing on the side of it’s head.

Elyza just shoved her knife into the last walker when she hears Alicia’s shriek. Leaving the blade sticking out of the top of the walker’s head and letting it drop to the ground, she spins on her heel - and with the speed of an Old West cowboy - pulls out her 9mm and lets off a round that lands square in the middle of the walker’s forehead.

She watches as it drops to the floor in a heap before blowing the smoke from the barrel of her gun. “Behind you,” she quips. Alicia glares at her for a moment before a twinge of pain flashes across her face. Her hand flies to the side of her head, cupping her ear, hissing when she makes contact. Elyza, in a flurry of worry and guilt rushes to the girl’s side. “Oh, my- _fuck_ , Alicia, I’m so sorry. I promise I won’t ever play cowboy again,” She cooes, pulling the girl’s hand away from her ear tenderly.

“It’s okay,” Alicia says quietly. “I think it’s just a graze.”

She tries to touch the wound again, but Elyza quickly pried her hand away, instead lacing her fingers through Alicia’s and pulling her through the aisles, looking for the first aid. “We should still take care of it. Clean it, maybe put a bandaid on it.” Alicia smiles at how she frets.

They end up sitting in the middle of the “self care” aisle, a joke Elyza did not miss making, with Alicia sitting between Elyza’s legs and a q-tip with betadine on it swabbing the graze. Elyza finishes quickly and puts some gauze and medical adhesive tape over it to strap it down.

“I don’t think you got any infected blood on it, so you should be fine now.” Her hands come to rest on Alicia’s shoulders and they smile at each other, for what feels like a long time…. “Anyways, let’s start stocking up before anymore of those things come looking for a little snack.”

She’s just about to get up and leave when Alicia reaches out and takes Elyza’s hand. “Thank you.” Elyza smiles at her and Alicia shakes her head at herself. “For saving me, helping me clean my wound-”

“That I caused, so it was the least I could do,” Elyza interjects.

“You’ve done a lot more than that…” she whispers. “You’ve… saved my ass more times than any one person should have to. You’re helping me find my family. You taught me how to cook on a stove.”

Elyza laughs at that one, “Heat. I taught you how to heat things on a stove,” she corrected. Alicia chuckles.

“Even so…” her eyes flicker down to Elyza’s lips and Elyza does the same, “you’ve done so much for me,” electricity sparks between them - lips trembling, eyes wet; it feels like everything is moving too fast and too slow at the same time, “and I just… wanted to thank you.” She stares at Elyza’s lips, feeling a pull towards them; like she feels a pull towards Elyza herself for some reason.  


She doesn’t know how long they’ve been sitting there, staring at each other’s lips, but she’s just about to lean in when- “We should start packing things up and head out of here.” -Elyza jumps up from the ground and picks up her shotgun. She’s about to walk off when she looks back down at Alicia - all big, glittering eyes and and full, pouting lips that she just wants to…. She clears her throat, shaking the thoughts away, and reaches her hand out for the girl sitting with her legs crossed on the ground like some fallen angel. She mumbles a thank you and smiles shyly and Elyza drops her hand so quickly it’s as if she’s been burned.

 _“And I will be burned if I don’t stop dreaming about kissing a straight girl….”_ Elyza’s thoughts berate her and she’ sure it’s visible on her face so she turns to walk down the aisle.

Alicia quickly jogs up next to her and steps in stride. Elyza gives her a puzzled look. “It’s a big store and there could be more of them,” she explains, her grip on the bat tightening. She smiles happily over at Elyza, trying to play off… whatever it was that just happened between them. Elyza nods at her and they walk silently over to the guns and ammo section. 

On the way they pass by school supplies (and odd positioning for products) and Alicia sprints over to grab two backpacks. One, a black one with red trim around the zippers and seams and a galaxy printed one. She hands the black and red one to Elyza who looks puzzled for a moment before Alicia explains, “So we have something practical to carry all of our supplies in and so we can make sure we only have the essentials to pack light.” Elyza looks a little shocked by this idea but nods in agreement. The girl was smart, no one can deny that.

They hit the guns and ammo section hard. Elyza stocked up on shotgun shells and snagged a few extra boxes of bullets for her 9mm. Along the way she saw a compound bow and a few packs of bolts to go with it. She snagged it and handed it off to Alicia who was admiring the hunting knives.

“Trying to copy me, love? I know I’m fabulous with a blade, but it takes a little more skill than just picking it up and-” Alicia picks up a butterfly knife and begins flipping it about in her hand before snapping it shut and slipping it into her pocket. Elyza stands by, quite baffled.

“I grew up in LA, I know how to use a knife,” Alicia offers before looking down at the bow in Elyza’s hand. “Planning on changing your name to Robin? I promise you, I won’t be wearing any tights, nor will I ever be considered _merry_.”

Elyza chuckles, “No, this is for you,” she hands it to the girl. “Although… you would look great in a pair of tights, and I’m sure I could put a smile on your face.” Elyza winks, smirking when Alicia blushes and just glares at her. She snatches the bow from her hand and flips it in her hands, inspecting it. “I figured it’d be a little more useful than your bat, though that is quite handy.” Alicia looks up at her through her lashes. “You just didn’t seem like much of a gun girl. Here, let me show you….” She lifts the bow up in Alicia’s arms, positioning them just right with her back elbow high. She stands behind her, hands on her hips, her fingers gripping them gently; she runs her thumb along her hip bone and she swears there’s static between them. “Widen your stance… good.” Elyza breaths into the girl’s neck, placing her hand on the her diaphragm as she orders, “Breath in, pull the string back…. and release.”

Alicia lets the string go with a satisfying _twang_ as it bounces against nothing with no arrow to release. “Good. D’you wanna try with the real thing now?” Elyza holds up a bolt and Alicia turns to look between it and her face. She nods determinedly and takes it with two fingers, placing it on the string. Elyza helps her position her fingers just right - and yes, she makes another joke that Alicia rolls her eyes to but she can’t deny the butterflies that flutter in her stomach afterwards.

She does as Elyza coaches; elbow up, wide stance, breath in and pull back… and release. This time, the _twang_ of the string is followed by a satisfying _thunk_ as the bolt lands in the wall across from them. Alicia can’t hold back the smile that bursts onto her lips and wraps her arms around Elyza’s neck, pulling her in for a tight hug. “Thank you,” she gushes. “See… you teach me new things all the time. Always helping….”

Elyza chuckles, “I love teaching you things.” And for once… Elyza actually didn’t mean for it to be a dirty joke or a flirtatious quip. They both separate quickly, each trying to hide the heat that’s crawled up their faces and tinted their cheeks. “Let’s… move on? There’s a lot of stuff we need.”

They headed over to the produce section, but as expected every thing that wasn’t in a can or packed with preservatives was rotten through and through. They ended up picking up a few cans of beans and other fruits and vegetables. Soon both their bags had very little room left so they moved on, deciding to just look around for anything that might keep their spirits up.

Elyza took the other girl’s hand and tugged her over to the clothes section, mumbling something about “damn walker blood” and “needing a new bloody shirt that doesn’t smell like a dunny”.

Alicia browsed with her, holding up a shirt or two that Elyza might want but she waved both of them off. She had very specific tastes - which Elyza found funny considering the fact that she had just given a speech about how “beggars can’t be choosers in a zombie apocalypse, love” when they were looking through cans of food.

Finally, Elyza found a shirt that looked like her old one and let out a victory “huzzah!” Alicia began to laugh until the blonde took off her jacket and began stripping right there.

“What are you doing?”

Elyza looked up from the shirt in her hands with a puzzled look on her face. “What? You want me to go all the way to the changing rooms just to switch shirts?” She scoffed and threw the shirt over her head.

Alicia watched - read: stared - and noticed a long scar along the blonde’s side, tracing across her ribs. It started from her back, beneath her bra and ran a jagged line all the way down her side across her ribs and ended just about at her navel. “That looks like it hurt.”

Elyza was just pulling her head through the collar of the shirt, pulled it down her body, covering the scar back up. “It did,” she mused. “The animals in Melbourne are pretty vicious.”

Alicia scoffed, “What kind of an animal did that to you? It looks like a blade was used….”

There was silence for a moment as Elyza got a sort of distant look in her eye. “A pig,” she said quietly.

And then there was silence. Alicia was curious, but she could tell that this was a no-go subject, so she kept her mouth shut. They grabbed a few bottles of water and some more first aid supplies to keep in the pack on Elyza’s bike. 

As they were leaving, Elyza suddenly bolted away, running past a few of the checkout counters and began rooting through a bin of… stuff. Finally, she pulled out a victorious hand, grasping a bag of come sort. “Look, Alicia! They have lollies!” And she giggled happily, grabbing another bag and running back to her companion. Alicia gave her a pointed look, but the blonde just waved her off. “I love lollies, they’re the greatest candy of all time! Unless you count Vegemite.” Alicia’s lips curled up in disgust and pulled her friend out of the store.

They packed up the bike, Elyza offering a lollipop to Alicia who rolled her eyes, but took it anyways. “We’ll find your family, cutie. I promise,” Elyza mused, laying a hand over where Alicia had wrapped her arms around the blonde’s middle. She hoped that was true, but if the only company she had left was Elyza… Alicia thinks she’d be okay with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Tumblr: myheart-islike-astallion  
> Also, I plan on making the chapters a little more episodic so I need time to plan them all out, so please don't expect these rapid updates from me for much longer.  
> Love you guys, and thank you for sticking by me. Let me know how you guys are liking it and message me on tumblr if you have any headcanons you'd like included.


	4. chapter iv

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was going to have a lot more to it, however, I still need to work on it more and I don't have as much time to do that as I'd like, and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting. I still gave you some of the good stuff, but just consider this a part one of a two-part chapter.

A week came and went. A week of searching for Alicia’s family. A week of squatting in houses. A week of sleeping in other people’s beds and waking up clutching each other and pulling away quickly at the realization. A week of near silence and Alicia was absolutely over it! On the final day of that week, when they woke up, Elyza had opened her eyes to find Alicia staring back at her.

“Good morning,” Alicia sighed, sleep still thick in her voice. Elyza smiled at her weakly and began to turn away, but Alicia grabbed a hold of her hand. “No,” she whimpered, “stay with me. Just for a little longer.” Her thumb ran a circle on the back of Elyza’s hand. “Don’t pull away just yet. It’s too early to get up.” She laces her fingers through Elyza’s and for a moment the girl is stiff, unmoving, barely even breathing; especially when Alicia moves closer to her and curls into her side, tucking her head beneath the blonde’s chin. “You’re warm,” she muses, blinking slowly; her eyelashes brush lightly across her collarbone and she feels Elyza inhale deeply. “Stop pulling away from me…. I’m sorry for whatever I said that made you hate me.” She looks up at the blonde’s face but she’s avoiding eye contact. “I don’t want you to hate me….”

“I don’t,” Elyza says sternly. “I actually like you quite a lot. You’re one of the few humans I actually enjoy spending time with.”

Alicia chuckles, her breath brushing across Elyza’s chest and raising a trail of goosebumps. “That’s not much of a compliment now that there’s almost no one left, Lex.”

Her jaw ticks at the name, smiling tightly. “I was counting when the population was in full bloom and not completely infection-ridden… _Clark_.”

Alicia watched as Elyza’s eyes fluttered shut and just continued watching the girl sleep for a little bit longer. She didn’t know why she felt this connection to the leather clad Aussie, but she didn’t ever want to be without her. She felt… complete now that she’d found her. And even though she knows so little about her - her life in Melbourne, how she got that scar on her side, what made her come to the States - she still felt like she knew exactly what the blonde was thinking and feeling all the time. Every time her brow creased and she got a slight quiver in her lip Alicia knew she was jonesing for a cigarette, so Alicia handed her a lollipop instead. She knew that when she felt like she needed a shower she’d roll her shoulders back and stretch out her arms to her side. Maybe that was because she was hyper aware of the blonde, and maybe just a little obsessive, but either way she felt connected to her.

Elyza’s eyes flashed open and Alicia gasped as she was suddenly drowning in the cool blue of her eyes. They stayed just like that for a long time until Alicia got so self conscious she pulled away and sat up on the bed. She swung her legs over the side and silently pulled on her shorts and converse.

“You’re staring,” she pointed out to Elyza.

“You were staring first….” Alicia said nothing because she was right. “Besides,” she could hear the smirk in her voice before she even turned around to see it, “it’s a pretty sight to see. Especially first thing in the morning.”

She can’t help the blush that crawls up her cheeks. She doesn’t hesitate to change the subject, “I’m hungry. I wish we had some way to make pancakes… I’m craving some right now.”

She can hear Elyza flip the covers back and turns around just in time to see her bend over to pull her jeans on, getting a clear view of her panty clad ass as it’s bent over. Her eyes snap up to the ceiling and turns around so quick she stumbles over her own feet. “I could go for some too. I miss syrup.” She is intensely aware that Elyza has not stepped just behind her, feeling her breath ghost against the back of her neck and her knuckles brush against her arm. “There’s nothing like licking syrup off your fingers….” Alicia trips as she tries to get away from Elyza as quickly as possible, pushing her arms away as she rushes out to catch her. She glares when she hears Elyza chuckle and mumble the word “klutz”.

They don’t eat much for breakfast, as it happens, because the only thing they have left now is more granola and and one last can of beans… and stale lollipops. They decided to save the beans for later that night though, in an attempt to be practical about saving food. They leave the house they squatted in behind and begin traveling down the street on Elyza’s bike.

“We should avoid downtown,” Alicia suggests, yelling over the whipping wind. “That’s where all of the walkers seem to come together.”

“What about if that’s where your mother and stepdad are? They might have gone in for supplies-”

Alicia shakes her head. “They aren’t that stupid. If they needed to get anything, they’d raid the stores around downtown, but not in it.” Elyza nods her head and accelerates down the highway.

//

The street is quiet, the only sound is the low rumble of Elyza’s bike as they slowly roll down the pavement and the gravel crackling underneath the tires. Their heads are each on a swivel as they both look for signs of life, both human and undead.

Alicia notices a convenience store that’s all locked up and taps on her companion’s shoulder and points to it. “Even if they aren’t in there… we need more food.” Elyza nods, pulling her bike over and cutting off the engine.

They climb off and move to inspect the lock. It has no sign of being broken into or out of so Elyza drops to her knees in front of the lock, giving it a closer look. “Do you have a bobby pin or paperclip on you, by chance?” Alicia just gives her a look.

“Maybe we could check around back?” Alicia turns around, looking down the street where they came from to see if they had missed an alleyway that they could sneak into. She nearly jumps out of her skin when she hears the gunshot behind her; grabbing at her bow, ready to attack any walker that may have snuck up on them. But it’s just Elyza, looking back at her with a guiltless smirk on her face, aiming her gun at the lock that now has a bullet hole in it. “Are you fucking _crazy!?_ Now walkers are probably gonna swarm this place!”

Elyza shrugs. “Then we better get inside and lock up quick.” She pulls the chain off the door and lets it drop onto the ground haphazardly before yanking the door open with a grunt. “Hurry up, love,” she orders, waving Alicia inside.

She complies with a grumble, glaring at the girl the entire time. She walks in with her bow nocked and ready, but it’s silent. She hears the door close behind Elyza and a hand on her shoulder.

She leans in close to whisper, “I don’t think anyone’s here, cutie. Looks like it was locked up before the infection started to spread.” Alicia tries to ignore the way her ears get hot when she whispers the word ‘cutie’ so close to them. “Ooh! Snackies!” Elyza squeals in delight as she peruses the aisles, Alicia just rolls her eyes and walks to the back office.

There isn’t much there. A computer, a safe in the wall that’s no doubt emptied out - not that money would matter anymore. She did notice a guitar nestled into the corner of the small room, partially hidden by the desk. She pulled it out from hiding and examined it, running her long fingers across the smooth wood. She strummed along the strings, immediately clasping her hands over them to quiet the sound, and winced at how horribly out of tune it was.

“What’s that, then?” Elyza appeared, leaning nonchalantly against the doorway. “Do you play?” Alicia answered with a shake of her head. Elyza just smirked and reached out for it, “Give it here, then.”

When Alicia offered it to her, Elyza sat down in the office chair and positioned the guitar on her lap while Alicia settled on the ground in front and watched her. She carefully tuned the guitar with a kind of patience Alicia had never really seen from her. When she was satisfied with the sound the instrument produced she began to strum, haphazardly at first and then with a little more purpose, eventually creating a melody - one Alicia did not recognize.

“Hello, goodbye, my friend. I’m sorry that I’ve been so bent… out of shape, I’m sure you make… a wonderful partner. Truth is, I do love you, and everything you… are. But I do not deserve you, not your mind and not your… heart.” Alicia was a little shocked when Elyza started singing. She swallowed thickly as she listened to the lyrics; a part, deep inside of her, aching as she sung the words.

“Sorry that I made you think our future lay together. Laying there, I met your stare, I prayed for stormy weather. Pick a fight, I hoped you might… see the sense in leaving. You didn’t though, but I made you go, despite your own believing….” Elyza’s eyes flickered up to meet Alicia’s and she suddenly couldn’t breath, a tightness in her chest making the ache grow stronger… deeper, somehow.

“I just saved you from myself…. One day you might thank me and… take me off your shelf…. Wish I could save me from… myself! But, until then I’ll just… figure it out and sing… to someone else….” She couldn’t believe how sad her eyes were. This song was obviously not written for her, but she couldn’t bare the thought that Elyza felt this way for someone… anyone at all.

“Yes, until then I’ll just… figure it out and sing… to someone else….” Elyza played final strum and looked back up into Alicia’s eyes. She clears her throat awkwardly and hums out a laugh and strumming out another song, much more upbeat this time.

“It’s the remix to ignition, hot ‘nd fresh out the kitchen. Mama rollin’ that body, got every man in here wishin’,” Elyza throws a wink over to Alicia and the girl blushes furiously, ducking her head. “Sippin’ on coke ‘nd rum, I’m like ‘so what, I’m drunk!’ It’s the freakin’ weekend, baby. I’m about to have me some fu-un.” She seems to perk up, dancing in her seat with the music. “Now bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce- bou-ounce. Ohhh, yeah… I said-

“It’s gettin’ hot in here, so take off all your clothes. I am getting so hot, I wanna take my clothes off!” Her voice was breathy as she sang, making a blush crawl up Alicia’s neck, which wasn’t helped by the smirk Elyza wore when she noticed this.

“When I met you last night, baby! Before you opened up your gap! I had respect for you, lady! But now I take it all back….” Her voice grew husky again and Alicia unconsciously licked her lips, the sound of her voice having an effect on her she wasn’t quite sure how to handle. “Since you gave me all your _pussy_ … and you even licked my balls.” Alicia laughed loudly at the face Elyza made. “Put your number on the counter, baby… _and I might give you a- and I might give you a-_

“I like the way you work it. No diggity! I got to bag it up. I like the way you work it. _No diggity!_ I got to... _bag it up_.

“She’s got class and style- street knowledge, by the pound…. Baby never- act wild. Very low key… on the profile. Catchin' feelings is a no, let me tell you how it goes…. Curve's the words, spins the verbs. Lovers, it curves, so freak what you heard.” She falls into a fit of laugher, Alicia soon joining in.

Eventually, after all the laughter had died out they just sit in silence for a while. Alicia chews on her lip, wondering what to say. “I didn’t know you played… or sang for that matter,” she says in a feeble attempt to keep up conversation, though conversation with Elyza never feels forced and silence is never uncomfortable… she just likes the sound of her voice.

Elyza shrugs. “I’m not very good.”

Alicia just stares at her like she’s an idiot. “I… _just_ heard you. You’re pretty damn good. Better than me, _at least_.” Elyza chuckles and stands up from the chair, reaching a hand out for the girl to grab and help her up.

//

It turns out that Alicia was right. The gunshot Elyza let off to open the lock drew in a pack of walkers that didn’t seem to be leaving any time soon and with the sun going down they decided it would be better to just buckle down there for the night. Alicia doesn’t think it’s safe enough to have both of them sleep at the same time, so Elyza volunteers to take the first shift. Alicia tries to disagree, but it doesn’t last long- Elyza just insists on Alicia needing more sleep.

In an act of rebellion, however, Alicia lays on the floor next to where Elyza is propped against the counter. She takes off her jacket and balls it up to make a pillow, resting her head on it. Elyza shakes her head at the girl’s stubbornness but goes back to watching the door, keeping an ear out for any sign of the walkers breaking in. So far all she can hear is them shuffling about outside, knocking into the door every now and again - which makes Alicia jump in her sleep, only to be soothed by Elyza running her fingers through the girl’s soft, brown locks.

One time, the walkers grow so aggressive that they just keep knocking into the grate of the store. Alicia shivers in fear, making Elyza incredible tense. “Relax, gumdrop. We’re safe, I promise….” She runs her fingers through the girl’s hair again, but instead of going right back to sleep, Alicia moves up, resting her head on Elyza’s lap. A small smile creeps up on her lips. She continues to stroke her fingers through her hair, long after she feels Alicia fully succumb to sleep until her hand gets tired and her own eyelids begin to droop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Cute Lexark, yes?  
> In case you'd like links to the songs I referenced, they are on Youtube;  
> Eliza's original song, "Song for Someone Else": /watch?v=PPY4h9rHwbY  
> Eliza's R&B mashup: /watch?v=4_hT960prRk
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr (myheart-islike-astallion) for updates and shenanigans.


	5. chapter v

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's part two of the previous chapter!  
> I literally stayed up all night writing this so I hope you guys like it.

Alicia woke up with a start, jumping up and instantly reaching out for Elyza. Her hand connected with the girl’s bicep and she jolted awake as well. When Alicia looked back and saw her rubbing the sleep from her eyes her face contorted in annoyance.

“You fell asleep?” She basically growled, standing up quickly and surveying her surroundings, panicked about who - or what, more accurately - may have broken in in the middle of the night.

A sigh erupted from Elyza. “It’s not a big deal. I told you we were safe.” She adjusts in her spot on the ground, arching her back and stretching out her arms. A groan of pleasure pours out from her throat when she cracks her neck. Alicia snaps to look back at her and - if it was possible to glare any harder than she already had been, she did. Elyza tilted her head and pushed herself from the ground, standing right in front of the girl, “We slept together in all those houses for a week, doll. We’re safer here than in one of them… I promise.”

Something about the way Elyza said “slept together” made a lump grow in Alicia’s throat.

“Well....” Alicia cleared her throat, “you still should have woken me up when you felt yourself falling asleep.”

A laugh ripped from the blonde’s throat. “Love, I was falling asleep from the minute I got off my bike.” A look of horror crossed Elyza’s face. “ _My bike!_ ” She near shrieks, dashing past the other girl to press her face desperately against the small window in the grate.

From what Alicia can see through one of the slats on the window grate her bike is now fallen over on the ground, but other than that it seems untouched and relatively unharmed. “It looks like it’s fine, Elyza.”

“Fine? _Fine?_ ” Elyza’s voice raises to a pitch Alicia has never heard from her before and she suddenly can’t help but smile a little, suppressing a giggle at the girl’s hysterics. “It’s not _funny_ , cutie. I’m gonna kill every single walker that touched my baby!” That made Alicia let out a bark of laughter. Elyza rolls her eyes. “Little shit,” she grumbles, Alicia just chuckles again.

//

Elyza wants to go get her bike right then and there, but Alicia convinces her to leave it for just a few more hours. There’s still too many walkers to go anywhere and they don’t have nearly enough ammunition between them to hold them off while someone sets up the bike. So the blonde just paces around the store angrily.

Eventually, Elyza gives up and sits down in a chair behind the counter with a huff. Alicia is laying across the counter top, munching on a bag of pita chips that are _stale as all hell_ but she sucks it up because she’s bored and hungry. Her head lolls to the side and sees Elyza’s eyes fixed on her. “You’re staring… again,” she hums, continuing to munch on her chips. She hears the girl sigh and she sits up. “Please stop pouting. You’re bike is going to be fine.”

“It’s not about the bike,” Elyza snaps. Her brow is furrowed and Alicia isn’t sure how to react because she honestly can’t put her finger on what is upsetting the girl if not that. “It’s just… we shouldn’t have come here. This far downtown- I knew it wasn’t safe.”

Alicia tenses up. “We had to. You were the one that suggested-”

“And I was wrong! But, we… we should have just kept going.” She swallows around her guilt. “After a week… I should have known. We should have just kept going North. Gotten on my bike and kept on driving up the highway.” Alicia is silent and it makes the blonde very anxious. “Alicia….”

“Don’t!” Alicia snaps. “Just… don’t, Elyza.” She looks over at the girl and sits up on the counter. She can feel the tears welling in her eyes. “They’re my family,” she chokes. “My mom is out there. I know it. So is my brother, my stepdad. Even Ofelia and Chris-” she stops herself, biting her lip before she can’t stop the tears.

Elyza gets up and walks over to the girl, pressing her hand to her knee, “I know they’re your family…. That’s why I can think those things. That’s why I can say-”

“Well don’t say them! Don’t even think them!” Alicia’s voice is way past a growl. She’s fuming as she pushes the blonde away from her and hops off the counter and begins to pace. “They aren’t your family so you don’t know how much I need them!”

That pisses her off. Elyza storms around the counter and presses in close to the girl. Their faces are inches apart. “You _don’t_ need them! You’re doing fine on your own!”

It makes Alicia pause for a moment, having Elyza that close to her. “I’m not on my own! I have you. I can’t do this alone and I need them with me because if I don’t have you, then-” She stops suddenly. She doesn’t want to think about being on her own. She doesn’t want to think about losing Elyza.

And then it’s quiet. Neither of them speak, they just stand there and look at each other. Elyza’s fingers itch to touch the other girl. She reaches out and puts her hand on her cheek, her fingers just brushing her jaw in a tender moment of comfort. “I’m sorry, Alicia…” her voice is soft and so is her hand so Alicia just leans into it and lets her tears fall. She doesn’t shake, she doesn’t wail, her tears just fall silently and Elyza lets them, gently wiping them away with her thumbs. “Look, we could just keep going. Just get on my bike… go North. We can go someplace safe and hold up until all of this is over.”

Alicia sniffles. “It’s not ever going to be over, you dummy,” she quips.

It’s not the girl’s best but it makes Elyza smile anyways. “Then we’ll hold up there forever. Just you and me… surviving.”

“Life is about more than just surviving, Elyza.”

She pauses. “What did you say?”

“I said… maybe life is about more than just surviving….”

A lump forms in her throat and Elyza can feel her skin prick with goosebumps at the words. “Maybe it is,” she says almost automatically. Her hand reaches for Alicia’s when a distant scream makes them jump apart.

“Mom?” Alicia’s voice sounds distant… and hopeful. It breaks Elyza’s heart.

She watches as the girl rushes to the door, desperately searching outside. “Alicia… whoever it is… they’re already gone. We couldn’t get to them in time.”

The girl whips around in a fury. “You don’t know that! You saved me!”

“Yeah… when I had my bike and I was ready to go get you. We’d have to fight our way out of here first-”

“Then let’s fight!” Her voice is hoarse from the unshed tears. “Let’s go get my mom! Let’s go save my family!”

Elyza tilts her head sympathetically. “We don’t even know if it’s them….”

Alicia fixes a deathly glare on her. “ _I know_ ,” she growls. The tension in the room is thick and Alicia feels like she could burst! She runs to the counter and grabs her bag and bow. “I’m going. With or without you, I’m going to save my mom!” 

She dashes for the door and Elyza almost screams her name. “ _Alicia!_ Just… wait. I’m coming,” she concedes. Losing Alicia is the last thing she wants, and losing her this way is the worst possible way to do it. She grabs her things and takes the girl’s hand. “Back door. Less walkers, it’ll be safer.” Alicia agrees with a nod and follows the blonde to the back. They get their weapons ready and Elyza’s hand hovers over the door.

It all happens in a moment. The door opens up and they open up to a narrow alley. Immediately they run between the buildings, clearing their path of walkers, mowing them down with arrows and bullets. When they get out onto the main street there’s another scream and Elyza takes ahold of Alicia’s hand and runs towards it.

They run and run and run, hands still clasped together, bags thumping harshly against their backs, blood rushing and hearts pounding. They reach a clearing in an intersection. There’s no noise. No more screams, not even any groans from the walkers.

Elyza doesn’t even know where they are anymore and she can feel Alicia panicking next to her, desperately trying to listen for another scream or some sign that the person they were chasing after is still alive.

Finally, there’s another scream but, it’s different this time; it’s a man screaming and now Alicia is sure it’s her family. She leads the way this time, tugging Elyza in the direction but she’s not as good at tracking sound as Elyza is and she gets them impossibly more lost.

“Dammit!” She cries, her hand flying to her face and Elyza stepping closer, wrapping her arm around the girl. “I was sure…. I was so sure….”

Elyza hushes her gently, trying to soothe her with a calm voice and a comforting arm around her. “I know… I know. It’s okay. We’ll find them.” Alicia just shakes her head, letting the sobs come now. She can’t see and all she wants is to just sit down in the middle of the street and sob for her mother like a child lost in a store. Elyza turns her around to face her and desperately strokes her tears away with her thumbs, trying to get the girl to calm down and think straight when a loud crash is heard from a block away followed by a chorus of low groans and shuffling feet. “Oh, fuck me sideways. We gotta go, lil bit.”

She grabs the girl’s hand and they take off down the street. They don’t get very far, though. They get cut off and suddenly they’re surrounded on all sides by walkers. They’re closing in and Elyza is sure they’re done for when she sees an SUV with its door open. She almost falls to her knees and praises whatever sits on high, but instead she opts to just run for it, taking Alicia with her. She throws the girl inside and climbs in after her, slamming the door closed behind her.

“Elyza, what the fuck are we going to do?” Alicia can’t even begin to hide the panic in her voice, not that it matters much now anyways. She watches as the girl climbs into the front seat, cracking open the glovebox and rooting around before pulling out some wires. “Seriously? You can hotwire a car too? Is there anything you _can’t_ do?”

Elyza just smirks. “Swim,” she admits. “I never learned. Don’t care for the water much anyways.” Alicia is a little dumbstruck as she watches her companion furiously attempt to spark the transmission. Finally it does, the engine revving to life, but it cuts out very soon after. “Dammit! Bloody fuses overloaded and now the battery is dead for good.” She swears, panic overcoming her and Alicia swears she’s never seen the girl anything like this.

It breaks her heart, seeing the blonde collapse against the seat in defeat, running a shaking hand through her blonde locks. “Hey,” she whispers gently, reaching over the center console, pressing her hand tenderly against the girl’s arm. “It’s okay now.”

She scoffs, “No, actually, quite the opposite.” She’s not worried about herself dying, she’s been ready to long before the apocalypse, but she can’t bare the thought of anything happening to Alicia….

“Yes… it is. If this is it… then at least we have each other….” Alicia’s words touch a part of Elyza that she’d almost forgotten was there. She gasps as the girl gets close, closer than she’s ever been before and- God she can feel her breath on her face and smell the sweat and strange scent of vanilla that still continues to cling to her. It makes her dizzy. She watches as Alicia tilts her head and she swears she can hear her heart beating in her throat and-

The door is thrown open with a bang. The girls scream and jump apart, but their hands clutch together. Elyza closes her eyes, ready for the feeling of teeth and fingers ripping at her flesh, continuing to press the last happy image of Alicia’s face against the back of her eyelids.

“ _Travis!?_ ” Alicia’s voice knocks her eyes back open. She’s looking up at a man with a look of concern creasing his brow, clutching a gun to his chest. The door next to Alicia opens with another bang and both girls whip around to look. “ _Mom!_ ” Alicia lets go of Elyza’s hand and launches herself at the blonde woman. They hug for a moment, elated smiles pressed happily to their lips.

“As happy as I am to see you, we need to get going,” the man says sternly and both girls break apart.

They exit the vehicle and immediately prepare to shoot their way out. They run down the street, shooting at walkers that get too close, barely making it to a pickup truck, packed full of people armed with guns, shooting a clear path for them. Madison hops into the cab while Travis and the two girls hop on the back. A girl with a braid tossed over her shoulder immediately hugs Alicia and Elyza, despite herself, can’t help but feel a little jealous. Travis bangs on the top of the truck and shouts for the man inside to drive.

When they’re on the highway, finally away from all sign of danger, they relax. Alicia hugs everyone she can, a boy with thin, brown hair that must be her brother, the girl again (and another unwanted pang of jealousy course through her), Travis, and some boy who takes too long with his hug than both Alicia and Elyza are comfortable with. Elyza might feel a bit of jealousy with him too.

They press their backs against the cab of the truck and let out a sigh of relief. Finally, they’re safe and they found Alicia’s family. They each look down at their hands and intertwine them comfortably. Now they could breath, now… they could just _be._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thats-what-makes-you-beautiful-laughing-version.mp3  
> Please don't hate me, I'm sure you do. I plan on updating soon, but theres a lot of things I want to do with this fic. I'm probably going to make it into a series, with a bunch of little side fics (yes, most of them smutty) so stay tuned for that.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr (myheart-islike-astallion) for those updates, guys!


	6. chapter vi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I want to warn you guys that this chapter does get a little dark, and perhaps a little triggering. Mentions of drug and alcohol abuse; a blood trigger warning, perhaps; mentions of attempted assault. So please take care and don't feel the need to force yourself to read. I love you guys!

It takes them three more days before they can settle on a place. A house farther up north, away from all the populated cities, nestled away in the woods. It was a cute little two story cabin that some rich family obviously used on vacations. The property itself was huge, though all any of them used was the house, though the kids sat out on the dock at the lake out back quite frequently.

Elyza remembered her bike as soon as they had left the Los Angeles city limits, and it took the entire truck bed full of people to stop her from jumping out and running back for it. She ended up pouting for the rest of the drive, she didn’t stop even when Alicia slipped her hand into Elyza’s. She just silently laid her head against the girl’s shoulder and fell asleep. Alicia did smile a little bit at the way the blonde lightly snored against her though.

When they got to the cabin and Elyza was still pouting Chris petulantly whines, “It’s just a dumb bike.” If Nick and Travis hadn’t been there to hold them apart, Alicia is pretty sure she would have had to watch the boy die and come back as a walker and Elyza would have to kill him again, a pleasure Elyza would have all too willingly taken upon herself. Elyza did get the opportunity to smack the kid across the back of the head later that night though and hissed a very pointed, “get stuffed”. Chris didn’t say anything to her again.

Two days later Alicia and Nick decided to go explore the property a bit while everyone was doing their own thing. The entire area was gated off, but they could see a few walkers roaming around just outside the property. Nick suggested that they should consider reinforcing the gates if they could. Alicia was kind of impressed by his foresight, and she noted that he was pretty smart when he wasn’t on dope. He laughed and playfully hit her shoulder.

There was a garage not far from the main house. Nick held Alicia behind him and went in first with his bat. Alicia rolled her eyes and nocked her bow, like she hadn’t killed plenty of walkers with Elyza. Nick pushed open the sliding door, ready to swing but seemed a little let down when there was nothing to hit… unless he wanted to smash up the pristine Bentley nestled inside. Travis would kill them if they did that though.

It was a pretty big structure, but what else was to be expected when they were staying at a rich family’s vacation house? They wandered through the rows of cars until Alicia came to a smaller figure with a tarp draped over it. She touched the front of it, feeling a rounded edge. Alicia smirked knowingly before calling Nick over to help her out.

//

 

“I got you a present.”

Elyza looked up from her book, squinting into the sunlight beneath her aviators. “A present? For me?” She shut her book as the silhouette of Alicia leaned down and her face became more recognizable. “What is it?”

The girl smirked. “You’ll just have to come with me,” she said haughtily, reaching out her hand and helping the blonde up. She put her hands over Elyza’s eyes, laughing at the way she huffed and dragged her feet as she walked with the girl, begging her just to tell her what it was. Finally, they came to a stop and Alicia told her to keep her eyes closed just a little longer. Elyza huffed once more. “Okay, now open,” she commanded, her voice noticeably farther away.

She opened her eyes, blinking in the harsh sunlight without her sunglasses. When her eyes adjusted her jaw dropped. “No…” she said distantly, staring at an object covered in a tarp. Alicia smiled widely and ripped the covering away, revealing a sparkling black Harley-Davidson. “Oh, you didn’t! Alicia!” She all but screams, rushing over to the bike, gently caressing the smooth curves - Alicia doesn’t let her mind wander on that - and bending down to inspect it more closely, examining all of the gears and hydraulics she could see. She stands back up, unaware of just how close they were before. “I could kiss you right now, you know?” Alicia gulps, her lips tremble. “Thank you!” She pulls the girl in for a hug, it’s meant to be quick but they end up lingering for a while. When they do finally pull away, Elyza clears her throat as Alicia ducks her head, trying to hide the sudden flush to her skin. Elyza takes her hand, pulling her attention back up. “Want to go for a ride?”

Alicia smiles wide, nodding emphatically, and Elyza immediately pulls the girl onto the back of her bike. There’s only one helmet and it gets passed off to Alicia. She glares at the blonde. “You didn’t make me wear one before,” she complains.

“I didn’t have one before,” Elyza counters. “Besides… I think if I didn’t give it to you, your mum would have me dragged off the back of the truck for a quarter mile.” She nods her head in the direction of the house, where Madison stands in the doorway. Elyza smiles and waves pleasantly, the woman gives a tight smile and a very strained wave. She’s going to pretend that it’s because her baby girl is on the back of a motorcycle.

Alicia waves at her mother as Elyza starts up the bike with a loud roar. She laughs lightheartedly at the sounds, like it’s comforting to her somehow…. Alicia smiles and wraps her arms around the girl’s middle, laying her helmeted head against her back. “Ready to go, gumdrop?” Alicia just nods and Elyza speeds off down the private road and they just keep driving.

//

They drove for most of the day, stopping along some road for a break when Alicia said her butt was falling asleep. She took off the helmet and shook out her hair, running her hand along the back of her neck to wipe off the sweat that had shellacked the baby hairs down there. Elyza just walked around the bike, admiring it for all it was worth.

“Thank you again,” she hummed, squatting down to wipe off a bit of mud that had splashed onto the shiny black paint. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Alicia smiled. “I’m sorry you had to leave your other bike in LA. It was… the least I could do really.” She looked down, a contrite look on her face, “it was my fault, after all.”

A crease formed in Elyza’s brow. She stood up and stalked over to the girl as she leaned against the back of the bike. “That’s not your fault,” she insisted. Alicia opened her mouth to protest but Elyza silenced her with a look. “You were worried about your mum, about your family.” Alicia looked down, her hair falling in a curtain to hide her guilty face. Elyza, with sympathetic eyes, placed a finger under her chin and forced her to look up at her. “I don’t blame you, so you shouldn’t blame yourself,” her voice was gentle and sweet.

Their faces were so close together, they could feel the other’s breath. Elyza could feel her heart in her throat as Alicia’s eyes flickered down to stare at her lips. “Elyza…” she said in a husky voice. Elyza’s other hand fell to the other side of Alicia, resting against the bike and effectively pinning the girl to it. “Elyza…” this time her voice was no more than a quiet sigh, their lips just barely brushing together at the word.

“Alicia… I-” Elyza can barely get the words out before they’re interrupted by a gurgling moan. “Ugh, _fuck my life_ ,” Elyza snaps. Her hands drop to her sides and she pulls out her knife, whipping around in a fury. “You wankers better get done quick, or I’ll have to kill you fucks again!” 

Three walkers all stumbled together towards them. Elyza slices her knife in a clean arc through the air, puncturing the first right in the top of the skull. She doesn’t have enough time to pull her weapon out, however, before the second one is on her; hands and teeth grasping to pull at her flesh, she kicks the thing in the chest and it falls to the ground. She grabs the third by the back of its head and brings its skull crashing into the back of her bike.

“Alicia, start the bike!” She barks out the order, smacking the walker’s skull against the ground with a bounce. Finally she pulls her knife out of the first walker’s skull just as the bike roars to life again, with the previous walker still stumbling towards them. Not far from them, two more crash through the trees, groaning in aching hunger for the girl's flesh. “ _Fuck,_ ” she curses, stabbing the walker quickly before climbing on the bike. Alicia barely has enough time to wrap her arms around Elyza before the blonde girl speeds off. “ _Fuckfuckfuckfuck! Fuck!_ ” She continues to curse. Alicia isn’t quite sure why, but she lets her get it all out until they get back to the lakehouse. “Go inside,” Elyza orders sternly.

This pisses Alicia off to no end. “But-”

“ _Now_ , Alicia,” she barks. It quiets the girl down, but it doesn’t stop her from storming inside with a huff. Ofelia, who watched the interaction from the porch follows the girl inside, sparing a glare for the blonde as she enters.

//

Elyza spends the rest of the day by the lake’s edge, cleaning her bike of mud and walker blood. She makes sure to get all of the crevices, even where she’s sure there is nothing there, but she’s thorough anyways. Alicia watches her from her window, a crease firmly set in her brow as she pouts.

“You’ll get wrinkles,” Nick snarks.

“Shut up,” she bites back. And he does, taking the hint that she wants to be left alone to pout. Chris stands at the doorway and is about to say something when Nick takes him by the shoulder and turns him around to walk out.

Alicia watches her work until it gets dark and she can no longer see, but she knows that the blonde continues to sit at the water’s edge. She’s dying to know what her problem is, why she was so angry at Alicia after what happened. She decides to find out first hand.

Marching down to the lake, Alicia stops just in front of the girl. Her arms are crossed and she taps her foot petulantly until Elyza looks up at her. The sadness in her eyes gives her pause, but her anger is too hot to ignore. “What the hell is your problem?” She snaps.

Elyza sighs and adjusts her position on the ground to curl in on herself, closing herself off from the girl. “Not now, lil bit.”

“No, _now_ ,” Alicia snaps. Elyza doesn’t move so Alicia moves to stand right in her line of sight. “What the hell is your problem?” She repeats her question; though her tone, still harsh, is noticeably softer. “One second we’re laughing and having fun and then all of a sudden, you’re _pissed_ at me! What gives? What happened?” Elyza looks up at her with teary eyes and Alicia already knows the answer…. They almost kissed.

“I should go,” Elyza comments, finally standing; but, Alicia grabs her wrist before she can go anywhere. “ _Alicia…_ I’m no good here,” she admits.

This is puzzling to the girl. She grips her wrist tighter, trying to pull Elyza into her, but the girl doesn’t budge. “What the hell does that mean? You _are_ good here.”

Elyza shakes her head. “No… I mean, I’m no good for _you_ here.” Elyza stares at the girl with tears that are threatening to fall and wills herself not to cry as she swallows a lump in her throat. “I put you in danger. I put us both in danger….” She pauses and thinks about her words. “ _I’m_ a danger.”

Shaking her head, Alicia takes a step forward, her hand still tightly grasping Elyza’s wrist. “No you’re not,” she offers gently. “Why would you say that?” She brushes her hand against the blonde’s cheek, wiping away a tear that had fallen.

Elyza leans into her touch for just a moment before snapping away, jerking her wrist back too. “Because I am! I _am_ a danger! To you, and your family.” Her voice breaks, “I’m no good for you, Alicia.”

She snarls, “Don’t you _dare_ tell me what’s good for me or not. Only _I_ get to decide that.” 

“Well, I’m not!” Elyza’s voice is harsher than Alicia has ever heard it and it almost scares her; however, she’s too furious to be scared right now. But, her voice drops suddenly as she whispers, “All I’ve ever done is ruin things…. I don’t want to ruin you.”

Alicia is stunned and doesn’t know what to say. “This is about what happened to you before… all this,” she gestures to their surroundings. “In Australia?” Elyza nods. Alicia’s eyes drift down to her side where she knows the scar travels its jagged edge up her side. “Tell me about your scar,” she says. It’s not a question.

Elyza hesitates for a moment, shifting back and forth on her feet. “I didn’t kill a man, like you thought… but I came close,” she admits. Alicia just stares at her, waiting for her to continue. “My dad died when I was 10. My mum… she was a doctor and… she took his death hard. She started drinking, stealing meds from the hospital - painkillers, oxy and whatnot….” Alicia nods in understanding. “She got fired when they found out, obviously. That day… I came home and I found her on the couch. An empty bottle of pills on the floor and a bottle of whisky in her hand… vomit on her chest…. She OD’ed while I was out with some friends after school. And if I had just come home right away-” her voice cracks and she has to take a moment.

Alicia finally speaks, taking her hand, “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t know she was going to do that.”

“But I knew she’d wanted to. I was gone so much because I was tired of cleaning up after her.” A few stray tears fall down her cheeks and Elyza wipes them away as quickly as they fall. “And then I went into the foster system,” she continues. “I was 12, no one really wants to adopt a kid that old. So I just bounced around from place to place… some were nice, but most- most weren’t,” she admits.

Letting go of Alicia’s hand, Elyza moves to lift up her shirt to reveal the jagged line of her scar on her side. “I got this when I was 17. It was my last home before I got kicked out of the system, and it was the worst. The man… he stole from me. He looked at me and the other girl that was there like we were prey.” Alicia swallowed tightly, she could tell where this was going. “We… shared a room and one night I wake up to hear the girl crying. His hand was over her mouth and he had a knife to her throat…. He put down the knife for one second and reached for his pants and-” She looked up at Alicia and the girl just nodded in understanding. 

“I didn’t get there fast enough. He picked up the knife and cut me…” Alicia reached out and traced the line of the scar, letting a sympathetic tear fall down her cheek. “He grabbed me, held me down…. If Mari wasn’t there….” She took a shuddering breath in. “She hit him over the head, I grabbed the knife and I stabbed him in the neck.” Alicia gasped. Elyza stopped and took in her face, her hands going up to wipe away the tears. “We just ran. We called the cops and we ran.” She looked down at the ground. “I’ve been running since.” 

There’s silence then; a pulsing, thick silence that sinks into them. “That doesn’t make you a danger, Elyza,” Alicia finally says, taking her hands and holding them against her neck. She steps closer until their chests are pressed together. “You had a hard life. That doesn’t make you dangerous.”

“No, it just makes me broken.” The words cut into Alicia like a knife. “Damaged goods that you’re too good for.”

Alicia throws Elyza’s hands down. “Don’t tell me what’s good for me or not! I _know_ you’re good for me!” Her lip trembles and her voice grows soft again. “You saved me. No one who’s bad tries to save a girl in danger, let alone protects her and takes care of her for two weeks.” She takes in a shuddering breath. “I trust you, Elyza. I-”

“Don’t. Don’t trust me, don’t have feelings for me.”

“Well, I’m not going to hate you! I care too much about you,” she admits, her hand brushing Elyza’s but the blonde pulls away quickly. “Why is this so hard for you?”

The blonde’s jaw clenches and ticks in frustration. “Because I don’t want to hurt you.”

Alicia glares. “Too bad, you’re hurting me now. All I want is to-” she stops herself. “Fuck, just stop shutting me out!” The moonlight bounces off the surface of the lake and dances across Elyza’s face in a shimmering ripple with the water. “We’re connected now, whether you like it or not.” She glances down and Alicia tries to catch her eye again. “Elyza-” she barely glances up when Alicia takes the side of her face and brings her in for a kiss.

Their lips collide with a punishing force. Elyza is still for a long moment; not pulling away, not kissing her back, just ramrod straight, gripping onto Alicia’s elbows gently to hold her there. Finally, she relaxes into the kiss and Alicia has to smile against her lips as they begin to slide together in tandem. One hand tangles itself into blonde locks, the other grips at Elyza’s bicep to hold them steady.

Elyza opens her mouth into the kiss, sneaking her tongue out to glide across the girl’s pouting lower lip. “ _Elyza…_ ” she says in a whisper of a moan and she loses it. Her arm wraps around Alicia’s waist to pull her in tighter as she spins them walking them back against the tree. Her hand presses against the back of Alicia’s head so she doesn’t hurt the girl as she presses her roughly to the bark of the tree. The girl gasps into the kiss when her back connects with the tree, giving Elyza the chance to deepen their kiss. Alicia’s arm wraps around her shoulder, her fingers curling into the soft leather of her jacket. Elyza slides her thigh to press between Alicia’s legs and the girl can’t help the moan that rips from her throat.

“God… Alicia,” she groans, pausing the kiss to press their foreheads together. “What are we doing?”

Alicia opens her eyes and smiles as she stares into sparkling blue. “Living,” she says simply and pulls the girl in for another kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Worth the wait, yes?
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr (myheart-islike-astallion) to tell me how much you hate or love me for this one.


	7. chapter vii

The girls end up sliding down to the base of the tree and just curling into one another, too tired to move from that spot and falling asleep against the hard wood of the tree. Elyza blinks her eyes open and squints as the morning sun reflects off the water’s surface and shines in her eyes. She tries to move her neck but groans at the stiffness in it. “This wasn’t a very well thought out plan,” she mutters to herself. She rolls her ankles and lets out a satisfied groan as they crack. She tries to stretch out her middle next, but the weight of Alicia laying across her, her head resting comfortably on her chest, makes it impossible. She definitely doesn’t mind though.

She stares down at her with a satisfied smile on her lips, watching as the girl’s even breath makes her back rise and fall, the air she expels ghosting across Elyza’s collar bone. She shivers at the feeling, tightening her hold on the girl. It wakes Alicia up, unfortunately, and she’d feel bad if the way the girl smiles up at her didn’t make her feel so good.

“You’re staring again,” Alicia quips. They smile at each other and Elyza gently runs her thumb across the girl’s high cheekbone, just under her eye.

“Can you blame me? There’s not anything out here quite as pretty as you,” she flirts. It was lame and she knows it, but it makes Alicia smile and roll her eyes so she thinks it’s worth it.

The leaves crunch beneath footsteps not far away from them, and grow closer and closer slowly. Panicking, Elyza reaches for her pistol at her hip, but Alicia quickly lays her hand over the blonde’s. “It’s just Ofelia,” she says quietly.

Just then, the girl rounds the tree with two mugs in her hands. “You know, I don’t know how safe it was for you two to sleep out here. Not only that, it can’t have been that warm… or comfortable,” she says with a wince, looking at the tree they had slept against.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Alicia answers for both of them, completely missing the pained look on Elyza’s face as she sits up.

Ofelia laughs. “Okay,” she breathes, “have some coffee and come inside so your mom can stop pacing though. It’s starting to drive everyone crazy.” Alicia laughs and nods, sitting up and stretching out her arms. Ofelia tosses a glance at Elyza and arches her eyebrow with a smirk.

After watching Ofelia walk away, Elyza sits up and pulls Alicia’s back into her. “Let’s just stay out here for a little longer,” she says with a sigh.

Alicia hums in agreement, “Only until we finish our coffee. Ofelia is right, my mom is probably flipping her top.” They smile and Alicia leans back against the blonde, taking a long sip from her mug. She lets her head loll to the side, snuggling her nose against the blonde’s neck and letting her eyelashes flutter gently. She smiles at the way Elyza laughs at her, tightening her arms around Alicia. “You aren’t going to leave, right?” Her voice is soft, timid, and very unlike Alicia.

Elyza is quite for a moment, chewing on the side of her cheek. “I don’t plan to. I- I can’t help but be afraid… for you, I mean. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

Alicia puts her mug down on the ground and turns around, leaning back on her heels to look at the girl seriously. “I won’t. You act like having feelings is… _weakness_ or something… but it’s not.” She takes Elyza’s hands in hers and brings them to her chest, pulling the girl forward. “I’m safe with you. I know I am.” Elyza smiles quietly, bringing her hand to cup the girl’s cheek and pull her in for a soft, slow kiss that makes the world feel like it’s slowing down around them.

//

Madison glares at Elyza from across the table. The girls took longer than Ofelia had suggested and it resulted in a very upset Mama Bear Clark. Nick snickered every time he looked between the two and his mom until Alicia finally sent him a silencing look. Their breakfast was eaten in silence for the most part, and Alicia had to wonder when her mother was going to snap. She thought she might when she felt Elyza’s hand move over to rest on the girl’s knee and saw the fire burning in her mother’s eyes. She didn’t know if Elyza’s cool exterior was all an act or if she was genuinely not worried. Knowing her mother… she should be.

“Alicia, help clean up,” Madison said once the meal was over. It made the girl’s heart leap into her throat and she heard Chris let out a low “ooh…” from behind them. Alicia just rolled her eyes, but Elyza took the chance to smack him across the chest. She turned back to Alicia and smiled, squeezing her hands for reassurance before turning and walking up the main staircase.

When she was out of sight, Travis and Daniel helped the other girls clear off the table before going off to talk privately. Ofelia stayed in the kitchen, wiping down the stove and countertops while Madison washed the dishes and Alicia dried. When Ofelia had finished they were only halfway through the dishes and Alicia couldn’t hide the panicked look on her face at the thought of being alone with her mother right now. The other girl seemed to sense this and began to put away the dishes as they were dried, thankfully taking her time with them.

“Would you go wipe down the table, Ofelia?” Her mother all but ordered the girl in her teacher voice. Alicia knew she was in for it. When Ofelia was out of the kitchen her mother turned off the faucet and turned to her daughter, a stern look on her face.

“Mom…” she began but Madison held up her hand to silence her, as if to say _I don’t want to hear it_. It made Alicia shiver.

“We lost you,” she began. Her voice was distant, but not angry. “For a whole week we were looking for you. We _lost_ you, Alicia.” Her eyes cast downward. She and her mom hadn’t really had alone time to have this talk and it was no surprise to Alicia, but she can’t help but feel protective of Elyza over whatever her mother is going to say about her. “We finally find you and you’re shaking up with some… _stranger_!”

Her green eyes snapped up to meet her mother. “She’s not just some girl I met on the street-” she stops and rethinks, “well, okay- she is, but that doesn’t make her any less of a person, mom! She saved me! She took care of me- we took care of _each other_ ….”

Madison shakes her head, “And I’m grateful for that, but this relationship you have with her scares me, Alicia.”

She didn’t even want to _touch_ the word relationship, and instead moved on, “Why? Is it the tattoos? The bike? Or is it just the fact that she’s a _girl_?” She’s never been so mad at her mom before and can honestly feel the blood in her face rising.

“Don’t do that to me, you know that’s not it!” Madison takes a breath and calms herself down. “It’s just… I didn’t even know you were… _gay_.” It’s laughable that she thinks it’s necessary to even whisper the word.

Alicia decides to just groan in frustration. “I’m not gay, mom! Why does it even _matter_ what I label myself as?”

Madison crosses her arms. “Well, how do I know that this isn’t just some passing fancy of yours?”

“Passing fancy?” Alicia shakes her head in amazement, “Passing fan- _Mom!_ She’s not _piano lessons_ she’s a _person_ , and I honestly thought you thought better of me than that.” She scoffs and turns around to storm off. She just can’t take it anymore.

Alicia storms upstairs to her room, surprised to find Elyza sitting up against the pillows on her bed, a pencil scratching into a sketchbook she’d found. “Oh… I thought you might have been in your room.”

The look that Elyza gives her is comical. “Love, we’ve been sleeping in the same bed for two weeks. I wasn’t planning on starting now.” She looks back down at her sketch pad, “Even if your mum does have something to say about it, she’s not stopping me from cuddling up with you at night.” She looks up through her lashes, “Unless you _want_ me to go find somewhere else to sleep later?” Alicia just shakes her head. “Thought so,” she says and continues sketching again. Alicia just laughs and crawls onto the bed, lying perpendicular to the blonde.

“So, how much did you hear?” Alicia rolls onto her side and props her head up.

“Enough,” she replies. She glances up at the girl and quickly flips the page in her sketchbook. “Stay, just like that…” Alicia blushes and ducks her head but does as she’s told anyways. “I know your mum doesn’t like me,” she begins again, continuing to draw.

Alicia sighs. “It’s because she doesn’t know you. But she will once she tries. It’s getting there that’s the problem.” She scoffs, “She can be so stubborn at times.”

Elyza can’t help the snort that comes from her, earning a glare from the girl. “What? At least we know where you get it from! You’re stubborn, gumdrop. You’re a little shit.” Alicia’s glare hardens further. “I think it’s endearing,” she muses and Alicia can’t help but smile a little bit.

They fall quiet for a while, the only sounds are Elyza’s pencil on paper and them breathing evenly. Alicia begins to feel so at peace, a feeling she hasn’t felt in a long time and she can’t help but believe that it’s all because of the blonde sitting at the other end of her bed. “Are you done yet?” She asks when her neck begins to get tired.

“No,” Elyza answers simply, not even looking up from the paper. “Art takes time, especially… when I’m drawing something as beautiful as you.”

That makes Alicia roll her eyes. “You’re such a cheeseball,” she says in a laugh, reaching out to smack at Elyza’s calf.

“Yeah… but you find _that_ endearing, don’cha?” She winks over the pad and goes back to drawing and shading all of the angles in the girl’s face. She loved the way the light was hitting her, making her high cheekbones light up and the way her lips pouted… the way her eyes sparkled. She smiled as she traced the curve of her jawline with her pencil, the graphite shading in all of her angles.

Someone knocks on the door and they both look up to see Chris in the threshold, a playful grin on his face. “Hey, Alicia,” he says, avoiding looking at the other person in the room. Elyza just goes back to drawing. “Dad said the water should be fine if we wanted to go swimming. Do you want to join us?”

She looks between Chris and her and just shakes her head. “Maybe later,” she smiles and watches as the boy’s lips tighten. He throws a glare over to Elyza - who continues to ignore him with vigor - before walking out with a pout. “Do you want to?”

Not looking up, Elyza just shrugs. “I wasn’t invited,” she says simply.

Alicia scoffs, “You are. Chris is just being…”

“A little shit,” she finishes for the girl. Alicia giggles.

“Well… maybe you should go just to piss him off then,” she says and that gets Elyza to look up. 

She smirks a little and goes back to sketching. “After I finish.”

Alicia huffs, “And when will that be?”

“It takes as long as it takes.”

//

It does take a little longer than Alicia would have liked, but it’s not even finished by the time Elyza closes up the sketch book. She says she needs some more time to work on it. Alicia just rolls her eyes when she doesn’t even get to see the picture she just posed for for half an hour. Alicia gets up and cracks her neck, pulling off her t-shirt and grabbing her flannel to cover herself. She can feel Elyza’s eyes raking over her bare back the entire time and she has to smirk a little bit.

“So,” she begins as she turns to face the blonde as she continues to lounge on the bed, “are you coming down or are you just gonna meet us out at the lake?”

Elyza keeps a poker face, but Alicia doesn’t miss the way her eyes seem to run the length of her body, lingering on her legs and at the gap of her flannel just above her cleavage. “I’ll meet you. I’ll get changed up here,” she says coolly.

With a nod, Alicia spins and walks down the steps, stealing a couple fluffy towels from the closet as she passes by. When she goes outside she can already hear Nick, Ofelia, and Chris all screaming and laughing happily. She smiles and walks quickly to the dock.

Chris immediately stops splashing about when he notices her, a wide grin spreading across his face. “Hey! Come on in! The water’s great!” Nick splashes him in the face in response.

Alicia laughs happily and spares a glance up to the window where her room is. She can see Elyza standing there watching them. Alicia gets a wicked grin on her face just then and without looking away pops the button on her shorts, sliding them down her long legs. She casually looks back out to the water as she unbuttons her flannel and slowly slides it down her arms. She turns around to drop the garment onto the dock by her shorts and the towels, but a glance back up at the window tells her that Elyza was no longer there to watch her.

She doesn’t know whether that means she’s coming down or if she is sulking up in their room, but she hopes it’s the former. When she turns back around Chris is staring at her in her lacy underwear, all slack jawed. She has to resist the urge to roll her eyes. It was, after all, the reaction she was hoping for, just not the person she wanted it from.

“Hurry up and get in or you’ll freeze out there!” Ofelia yells from the water and Alicia smiles, taking a running leap into the freezing lake.

“Oh my god!” She screams when she comes up, teeth chattering. “I’m freezing in _here_!”

Nick laughs, “You’ll get used to it!” He splashes her and she returns the favor, resulting in an all out war between the four of them until a throat clearing from the dock gets their attention.

Elyza stands proudly, with her hands on her hips, clad only in her all black underwear. “Ya might wanna move,” she warns, giving them a second to swim away before doing the same thing Alicia did, however it resulted in a far more impressive splash.

The wave smacks Chris in the face so hard he has to stand up and cough out some water. Nick pats him on the back and laughs. They laugh and play in the lake for so long all of their fingers and toes are pruned beyond belief by the time Daniel yells for them to get out.

Elyza holds onto Alicia’s wrist, keeping her from getting out. She doesn’t say anything until the others are out of earshot though. “I don’t appreciate being teased like that in front of others,” she husks into the girl’s ear, pulling her back into her and kissing just below her ear. “Though, I’m sure Chris enjoyed the show.” Below the surface of the water, her arm snakes around and wraps around Alicia’s middle, her fingers dancing lightly across the top of the girl’s lacy panties, dipping into them just with her fingertips. Alicia has to bite her lip and close her eyes to hold back a moan. “Now… let’s go get some food,” she whispers, letting her hand drop and lightly tap the bare skin of Alicia’s ass to get her moving.

//

After dinner everyone gathers in the living room. Daniel made a fire that crackles and pops satisfyingly, warming them all in the cooling night air. Travis and Madison sit snuggled together on the couch facing the fire while Daniel sits on the couch just next to them, silently reading. Alicia sits next to Daniel with Ofelia on the floor in front of her as she casually braids her hair, the boys having a thumb war next to the coffee table. Elyza sits across from them with her sketch pad, her eyes glancing up at Alicia quite often.

She’s sketching her, of course. It’s all she’s wanted to draw since she found the pad- no… since she met Alicia. She fears that soon she’ll need to go looking for a new one as it’s already filling up with quick sketches and doodles - mostly of Alicia. She keeps the one she’s currently drawing to the back of the book; a close up detail of her shoulder, head turned profile, exposing the length of her neck and a sharp look to her jawline and cheekbones. She happily shades the way her collarbone presses out against her skin and the gentle curve of her shoulder, calling back to the lake and how it was dotted with beads of water the clung to her… like Elyza wished she did.

She spends an almost unhealthy amount of time sketching her lips. Detailing every line and crack in them, the soft pout she always has and the way they part ever so slightly when she looks at Elyza. The way they’re parting now….

Elyza’s eyes snap up and see green orbs settled on her, a smirk playing softly on her lips - the ones she just drew in great detail… the ones she wished to kiss tenderly. Alicia pulls a lip between her teeth and blushes. Elyza can’t help but smile. By chance, she looks over and sees Madison looking between the two girls with a furrow in her brow, and when she catches Elyza’s eyes she gets up from her spot on the couch with Travis and walks into the kitchen, casting a glance over her shoulder to the blonde so she knew to follow.

Gulping down her nerves, Elyza shut her book and get up from the chair. She avoided looking over at Alicia, though she could feel her eyes following her even as she rounded the corner. She found Madison pressed against the countertop, cutting up probably the only good apple left in the world. When she heard the girl come in she glanced over her shoulder and pointedly put her hand to the side, showing the white-knuckle grip she had on the kitchen knife. Suddenly, Elyza felt more scared in this kitchen with the girl she fancied’s mom than in front of any horde of walkers.

“I assume you know why I wanted to talk to you,” Madison says coolly, turning around to lean her back against the countertop. She reached behind her and bit into one half of the apple she sliced. 

Elyza nodded stiffly. “I don’t blame you, Ms. C. Alicia is…” she trailed off, unsure of how to describe the girl in a way that was appropriate to say in front of her knife-wielding mom, “...amazing. She-”

“She’s a girl,” Madison finished for her. “A young girl, who is under a lot of stress and is probably unsure of her own feelings right now.”

Her eyes narrowed and her voice grew cold. “I don’t think you’re giving her enough credit, Ms. C,” Elyza replies, “all due respect.” Madison juts out her chin. “She’s smart, self aware, she’s a big girl that can handle herself.”

Crossing her arms, Madison steps towards the younger girl. “And where do you fit in then? If she can take care of herself, how come you saved her?”

“Because she’s a pretty girl and I’m a sucker for being the knight on a shining motorbike,” she quips, forgetting who she was talking to. Madison’s eyes look like she’s using that knife on the blonde in her mind right then and there. “Look,” she tries to save herself, “I don’t blame you for getting all Mama Bear and protective. She’s your little girl and you’re bright shining star. _I get it_ , more than you think. But, you gotta have some faith in her to make her own choices and mistakes.” Madison seems to relax a little bit.

“If you hurt her-”

“I won’t,” Elyza stops her. She walks right up to the woman, as if facing her fear, and reaches out to steal the other half of the apple. “I promise Mama Bear, I’m not gonna hurt your little cub,” she says with a wink that actually makes the older woman smile a bit. Elyza doesn’t say the thought that is constantly crossing her mind aloud though…. _If anyone’s gonna get hurt, it’ll be me._

Her lips quirk up in a playful smile and turns to walk away. “Elyza,” Madison calls quietly and the girl stops at the sound of her name, “I’d appreciate it if you and my daughter didn’t sleep in the same bed anymore, though.”

Elyza had to hide her pout but, she nodded anyways, taking a bite of the apple as she left the kitchen. When she walked out she immediately grasped Alicia’s attention; she gave a reassuring look and walked over to her, sitting on the couch next to her and offering a bite of the apple. She watched as the girl leaned over, her hands still busy in Ofelia’s hair, and took a bite. She watched as a drop of the juice clung to her lower lip and made a note to add that to her drawing before leaning over and sweetly kissing it away, tasting the fruit on her lips. They pulled away smiling and stared at one another until Ofelia gave Alicia a light tap on her knee to bring her attention back to the (literal) task at hand.

_Yup,_ Elyza thought as she leaned back and watched the girl’s nimble fingers work, _I’m definitely gonna get burned… but I’ll enjoy the heat while it lasts…._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still not sure how long this fic is gonna be so just stay tuned kiddos. I promise... it will be worth the wait.
> 
> If you follow me on Tumblr (myheart-islike-astallion) then you already know I have a new obsession with a clexa au and I _may or may not_ be thinking about starting a new fic. I love me some FSL, guys.


	8. chapter viii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am such trash and I'm sorry that this took so long. I was handling a lot of other things all at once (not to mention getting side tracked by my FSL fic that I'm writing) But I'm here and here is your chapter 8!
> 
> Also, in the intrest of lost time, I believe that this is still the longest chapter I've written for this story so there's that for you!

Madison’s request for the girls to sleep separately goes completely ignored - more or less. Elyza does try to obey by the rule, telling Alicia she has to sleep alone and giving her a kiss goodnight at her bedroom door before going off to find another bedroom. But, every night for the past week, Alicia ends up finding her way into Elyza’s room and curling into her body heat. Elyza only finds her the next day when she wakes up to a face full of sweet smelling brown hair. Smiling into it, she gives in and wraps her arms around the girl and hums as she leans into her touch.

She learns lots of little things about Alicia she’s never had the opportunity to before the silent mornings they spend together spooning in half-sleep. Like, how sensitive the brunette’s neck is. Whenever she runs her fingers across the little baby hairs at the nape of her neck or lightly kisses her pulse point. She learned just how ticklish her hips are as she ghosted her fingernails up the outside of her thigh, across her hips and watched as the girl jumped and giggled before turning over to face Elyza. She pecked a kiss to her nose, whispering, “Stop that,” when she just did it to the other hip. Elyza stilled as when she moaned as she ran her fingers up her spine, sucking in a harsh breath when Alicia ground her hips back into Elyza’s.

Feeling bold, Elyza ran her hand up Alicia’s spine again, slipping underneath her shirt and raking her fingernails back down, earning another moan. She couldn’t help the smirk on her lips when Alicia leaned back fully, pressing the lengths of their bodies together. Elyza wrapped an arm around the girl, her fingers possessively digging into her hip. Alicia turned over and blinked her eyes open - Elyza couldn’t help but admire the elegance of how her lashes fanned out across her high cheekbones; she could guess what her next drawing would be of. She bit her lip and slid her hand up Elyza’s side, holding onto her tightly, bringing her in for a soft and slow kiss.

A whimper slipped from Alicia’s lips and it set them both off. Suddenly, Alicia was on top of the blonde, her knees pulled up and straddling Elyza’s hips while her hands curled into the pillow just beside her head. Elyza was unsure of where to put her hands, but feeling the way Alicia rolled her hips when their lips made contact instantly made them snap to the backs of her thighs, fingers lightly pawing at the soft skin as they ran up the length of them. The tips of her fingers brushed the fabric of Alicia’s shorts, causing the girl to pull away. Elyza held her breath, swallowing down her shame. She’d moved too fast, scared her off. Soon she’d leave her bed and not come back.

Alicia just stared into Elyza’s blue eyes, chewing her lip expectantly as she waited for the girl to _make her move already_. She sighed and leaned down to kiss her neck, hoping that would get the message across. She arched her back, pressing back into her hands and feeling her fingertips slip just below the fabric. A sly smirk spread on her lips as she kissed Elyza’s neck. “Touch me…” she whispered for good measure and it was all she could do to hold back a moan when Elyza greedily palmed her thighs. Elyza’s hands slid upwards, cupping the cheeks of Alicia’s toned ass and feeling the lace of her underwear pressed between their skin. Alicia could not hold back her moan this time, pressing her lips to Elyza’s in hope that the girl would swallow it, which she did so greedily. Alicia cupped the back of her neck and deepened the kiss, Elyza’s tongue peeking out and running against Alicia’s, the metal ball of her tongue piercing knocking against Alicia’s teeth.

The door slams open just then, giving the girls no time to jump apart and giving Chris and Nick quite the show of the two girls tangled together with Alicia’s back arched into Elyza and the blonde’s hands buried deeply within her shorts. Nick’s hand shoots out to cover Chris’ eyes, but the younger boy rips it away, glaring at the girls. “Um… mom wants you downstairs, Alicia,” Nick mumbles.

She nods over her shoulder and waits until the boys scurry out, closing the door behind them. “Oh, my god…” she sighs, flicking her hair over her shoulder as she sits up. “I can’t believe- my brother saw- and _Chris_! God, he’s gonna tell my mom and she’s gonna be _pissed_!”

Elyza chuckles under her breath. She still hasn’t taken her hands from beneath Alicia’s shorts, still firmly cupping her ass. “Why? Because you’re a teenage girl making out with- with me?” She swallows, still unsure of how to define herself with respect to Alicia. They've been kissing for about a week and known each other for three, but she’s still not sure if _girlfriend_ is the right word to use. Besides… Elyza doesn’t really _do_ girlfriends and relationships… it’s just not her thing.

Alicia sighs and gets off of Elyza, tossing her legs over the side of the bed and running her fingers through her hair. “Well… she did ask us not to sleep together, so there’s that.” 

“I don’t know why. It’s not like I can get you pregnant.” Elyza slides next to her, resting her chin of the girl’s shoulder and nuzzling her nose into Alicia’s bare neck. 

Alicia rolls her eyes and continues on, “I just don’t want her to have another reason not to trust you. I want them all to like you as much as I do.” Elyza’s pulls back and quirks up her eyebrow comically. “Okay…” she laughs, “not _as much_. But, I do want them to think of you as part of the group… not just my plus one.”

“I am your plus one, though, cutie.” Alicia looks over her shoulder at the girl. “If you weren’t here… I wouldn’t be. And, not just because of the circumstances, but just because I prefer being on my own… unless there’s something I from them.” As soon as the words leave her mouth she knew she’d fucked up, and Alicia’s hard glare only confirms that.

“Oh,” Alicia says unsettlingly cool. “I guess I’m just a perk of the group then, huh?”

Elyza’s bit her lip hard. “Well yeah, but-” Alicia scoffs and Elyza wants to kick herself in the head. “No, that’s not what I meant. I meant-”

“No! I know what you meant, Elyza,” Alicia snaps, getting off the bed and turning around to face her. Her hands pressed into fists that sit on her hips as she taps her foot angrily. “I’m just a peice of ass for you to fondle as you survive your way through the apocalypse. I fucking get it!”

Elyza throws the sheet back and stands in front of Alicia in one smooth motion. “No,” she says in a low growl, “you don’t get it. That’s not what I meant and you know it.” She clenches her jaw and breaths in through her nose. “You aren’t just a peice of ass, alright? I-” She pauses, unsure of how to proceed, and in her hesitation Alicia rolls her eyes and storms off, slamming the door shut behind her. “Fuck!” Elyza throws a punch at the air in frustration.

//

After a few (failed) attempts later that morning to talk to Alicia, Elyza gave up and just decided to give the girl her space. It was a blessing that Travis suggest that they go on a supply run, which Elyza hastily volunteered for. She didn’t miss the way Alicia’s jaw tightened at her declaration, and it made her chest swell a little bit to know that the girl wasn’t mad enough to stop caring.

They all decided that Elyza would go ahead of them on her bike while Travis, Madison, and Nick followed in the truck. A supermarket was about half an hour down the highway and they wanted to get back before dark, but they could hear the groaning from outside and it actually sent a shiver down Elyza’s spine. Travis seems almost unaffected by it and Elyza has to suppress an eye roll because she’s a badass zombie slayer and even she’s a little afraid. _“That’s not bravery, it’s stupidity,”_ she thinks to herself as she approaches the front gate of the building with the other three trailing behind.

“This is gonna be dirty, alright, Brady Bunch?” Nick chuckles a little - and Elyza decides she kind of likes him for appreciating her sick sense of humor. “In and out, as quick as we can. Stick together and don’t run off. Travis and I can run interference from the biters while you two grab what we need - and _only_ what we need.” Travis tries to cut in, But Elyza quiets him down with a sharp, “Let’s move.” She doesn’t hate the man, he’s just a bit of a know-it-all when he really doesn’t know anything. It rubs her the wrong way.

Madison and Travis share a quick kiss before they push past the wire gate and march up to the front door. It’s wide open and that worries the blonde. She and Travis take the lead, getting their weapons in front of them before cautiously walking in, constantly turning their heads and weapons as they look about.

Elyza can hear the groaning coming from farther back so she turns to Madison and Nick, still waiting outside, and waving them in. “Be quiet. No gunshots unless we need to. Move quickly and quietly.” She can see Travis roll his eyes as he gets his knife out and tucks his gun away. Elyza doesn’t mind his insolence, he must hate getting orders from a girl half his age, but that girl knows how to stay alive.

They quickly sneak through the aisles, grabbing what they need and placing it quietly in boxes. Elyza and Travis flank the other two as they work. She’s impressed by how sneaky Mama Bear is, but Nick… she’s not surprised by. Sneaky is a skillset you tend to acquire when you live on the outside of normal life.

Travis accidentally knocks into a display case, making cans go every which way and it take Elyza a second to restrain herself from facepalming. The groaning grows louder and seems to move towards them… Elyza’s teeth set on edge. “Turn around and start walking. _Quickly!_ ” Elyza’s voice is harsh and she can hear shuffling on the other sides of the aisles.

“But we aren’t done yet,” someone protests in a whispers so low it’s hard to know who said it.

“It doesn’t matter, we’ll get whatever else we need later. Move!” She shoves at Nick’s shoulder, trying to look everywhere at once. Elyza leads them out of the aisle, pausing briefly before rounding the corner with her knife drawn. Immediately, she comes face to face with a slack jawed walker, arms outstretched and teeth gnashing in search of flesh. She barely lets out a gasp before her knife is plunged into it’s skull and she has barely enough time to pull it out before the next one is on her. “Go!” She hisses to the people behind her, hearing the quick patter of feet as they make a break for the exit.

The walker is clinging to her arm and Elyza has to swallow her panic. She kicks a booted foot out in front of her, shoving the walker away and running after the group ahead of her. But, the horde is beginning to close in around her. She can barely see the door ahead of her with all the bodies in the way.

With a frustrated grunt, Elyza pulls her shotgun over her shoulder and fires a shot before running in the other direction. She can’t see a way out through the front so she heads for the back. Coming up on the dairy aisle she looks around a bit before spotting the door to the back. She has no clue where she’s going but she just follows the rows upon rows of backstocked spoiled milk until coming up on a large window. Looking out she sees she’s not on the ground floor and a dumpster sits just below about four feet down. She tries the door to the left of the window… but of course it’s locked.

Elyza backs away and looks around, desperately trying to find another way out. But there is none….

Groaning fills the wide open space and she panics. She makes a break for the window, leaping from the wide ledge and throwing all her body weight against the pane of glass, feeling it crack and shatter, giving way for her to fall through. She lands with a hard thud against the closed dumpster, groaning as her shoulder aches from the impact. Looking up, she sees walkers milling about and it knocks her back into reality. Ignoring her pain she slides off the metal lid and lands on her hands and knees with a groan, pushing herself up again. She limps as she runs around the front.

There is no rumble of the truck, and when she peers around the gate it is nowhere to be found. Rolling her eyes she continues to limp over to her bike. She found it hard to hold herself upright on the bike, flinching as it roared to life beneath her using all her strength to steer off back towards the lake house.

//

Alicia spent the entire day with Ofelia down at the dock. They’d grown close since they’d gotten to the lake house, and Alicia was grateful to have a friend that she can complain to, other than Elyza - especially when she was complaining about the only other person she was close to. And it was especially nice because Ofelia was such an understanding and patient person. She didn’t talk over Alicia when she was venting and calmly waited until she was done before adding in her two cents.

Mostly, Alicia was just glad for the distraction. She was so used to spending her days with Elyza she didn’t know what else to do. Plus… she just didn’t want to keep worrying about the blonde, and so Ofelia was there to gladly take her mind off of her.

Everyone had gone on a supply run, Chris and Daniel stayed in the house while the girls hung out on the dock. They laid out a blanket and let their legs hang over the side, their toes brushing against the cool water below.

The rumble of the truck pulling into the drive made the girls’ heads snap up. Alicia lept to her feet and broke into a run towards the front of the house and she could hear Ofelia running close behind her. When they arrived, Travis had already shut off the truck and everyone was climbing out. Daniel and Chris were coming out of the house to help unload the truck, but Alicia noticed that something was wrong… that Elyza wasn’t there. Her blood ran cold as she desperately searched for the girl or the bike, but she was nowhere in sight.

Alicia stormed up to her mom and Travis, making them separate from the tight embrace they held each other in. “Where is she?” She demanded, her voice cold and distant… _shaking_ with fright. “Where is Elyza?”

Madison looked at her with pity and took a breath, “Alicia… baby-” she began, but Alicia cut her off.

“Where is she!?” Her voice was strained and her lips trembled with a sob she didn’t dare let out. She turned to look at Travis, who stayed silent and kept his eyes trained on the ground. “ _Travis,_ ” she hissed, “where is she?”

He didn’t even look up. “We had to leave her behind,” he mumbled.

A white hot rage flamed up inside of the young girl. “You had to- _why?_ ” His silence only enraged her further. “You _son of a bitch!_ ” She screamed, her hands flying towards him to smack him across his downturned face and pound on her chest. Nick tried to pull her off of Travis but she just turned around and pushed the frail boy to the ground. She continued screaming even as Daniel pulled her away, and the man was too strong to fight off - but she still continued to scream and kick, desperate to fight back.

Through her screams she could hear a rumble from down the road… one quite similar to Elyza’s bike. Everyone turned to the sound, Alicia shaking Daniel off of her and running in front of the truck just in time to see the blonde pull into the drive.

“Elyza…” she whispered softly, noticing the lean in the girl’s gait. Nick and Ofelia quickly joined her as she ran up to the girl, catching her just before she fell of the bike. “Elyza, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

Her answer was a grunt before pulling her arms over Nick and Ofelia’s shoulders, pressing her weight against them. “I’m… fine. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me….” She winced when she tried to put pressure on her foot to walk, immediately falling back against Nick who caught her easily. Alicia rushed to her side, brushing her thumbs against Elyza’s cheeks. The tender action made the blonde’s heart swell. “Alicia…” she began, but was cut off by a kiss.

“Don’t worry about it right now,” Alicia whispered.

Elyza shook her head. “No… I’m sorry… for what I said earlier, I was just-”

“I know,” Alicia answers, cutting her off again. “I know, it’s fine.” She presses a gentle kiss to a cut on the blonde’s cheek and wipes away a tear from her own. “Let’s take her up to my room,” she tells the two holding Elyza up, “I’ll take care of her.”

Elyza lets out a little laugh. “Does this mean I get to see you as a candy stripper? Because if so, I should get hurt more often.” She laughs again, but too hard and it makes her wince in pain.

“Serves you right,” Alicia jests with a snort before motioning for the other two to follower her up to her room. She shoots a glare over at her parents before heading inside.

//

Elyza fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Alicia asked for some water and a couple washcloths, staying by the blonde’s side the entire time she was out. She cleaned out all the gashes and scrapes along her body, covering the ones that were pretty deep. She also got the girl out of her leather jacket and jeans, ignoring the way all of the bare skin made Alicia’s cheeks flush as it was exposed. It took so long to get Elyza cleaned up and after the day they’d both had Alicia just curled up next to Elyza and fell asleep with her head on the blonde’s shoulder, trying desperately not to cause her any discomfort.

They slept for the entire night. Elyza woke up before Alicia, smiling into the top of her head and pressing a kiss to her hair, breathing in her sweet smell. Blinking her eyes open, she turned over to see Madison sitting in the chair next to the bed. Her eyes were half closed as she focused down on a book in her hands. When she heard the bed turn and the sheets crinkle beneath the girls she looked up.

“Hey,” she greeted, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “At least you’re awake now.” Elyza smiled sleepily and looked back down at the woman’s daughter, still knocked out, resting her forehead against the blonde’s shoulder. “She didn’t want you to be without someone watching over you. I tried to make her go to bed, though she wouldn’t leave your side. So I just sat here while you two slept.”

Shifting slightly, Elyza sat up a little, groaning at the tightness in her ribs and shoulder. “I’m fine,” she insisted when Madison moved towards her. She looked down at Alicia and smiled. I’ don’t want to wake her up…” she whispered, gently brushing the hair from her face.

Madison watches the interaction with a small smile on her face. “You really do care for her… don’t you?” Elyza looks up, a little shocked and bites her lip before nodding. Madison nods wistfully, “I can tell… from the way way you look at her. And I can tell she feels the same.”

Elyza’s eyes turn confused. “How can you tell?” Her voice is but a soft whisper, not wanting to wake the girl.

“She looks at you the same way,” Madison whispers back, a small smile on her lips. “I’m sorry for the way I reacted. She just means so much to me and with everything going on, I- I was wrong… and I’m sorry for what happened on that run. We should have waited but-”

The blonde held her hand up and stopped the older woman. “It’s okay. I know you were just being a Mama Bear, protecting your little cub.” Madison smiles, peering over to look at her daughter.

Just then, Alicia begins to stir. She nuzzles her nose into Elyza’s side, pulling away when she realizes what she’s just done. “Sorry,” she mumbles, sleep thick in her voice.

“Don’t worry about it, gumdrop. I’m alright,” Elyza hums, running her knuckle across the high arch of the girl’s cheekbone.

She can hear Madison shift in her chair and looks up at the woman as she stands, shifting from foot to foot. “I’ll leave you two alone. Come down when you’re ready and we’ll get you both some food.” Elyza nods at her and watches as she leaves, closing the door behind her.

She looks down and sees Alicia staring up at her with wide, green eyes that are glassy from sleep - and possibly unshed tears…. “Hey,” she coos, “did you sleep alright?”

Alicia doesn’t say anything as she wipes her eyes and sits up next to the blonde. “Fine. I was worried about you though…. You were so hurt and- and we had fought right before you left I didn’t know if-”

“Shhhh….” Elyza cups the girl’s cheek and brings her in for a soft kiss. “I’m alright, lil bit. A little banged up, but it’s nothing that won’t heal.” Her thumbs wipe away a trickle of a tear that leaks from the corner of Alicia’s eye. “I did promise I’m not gonna leave. You’re not gonna lose me that easy.” They smile at each other and Elyza pulls her in for another kiss before she can cry again.

Soon, the kiss turns heated. In her desperation to see and feel and taste Elyza again, Alicia pulls at the blonde’s neck, deepening the kiss and feeling Elyza’s tongue press against the inside of her mouth. Elyza wraps her arm around Alicia’s waist, pulling her closer and the girl takes it as a hint to straddle the blonde and throws her leg over to her other side, mounting her.

They both gasp as they feel every bit of each other, grinding hips and grabbing fingers… hungry for flesh. Elyza’s hands slide around to grab Alicia’s ass in the little shorts she has on, fingers dipping just below the fabric to tease at the lace against soft skin. Elyza really loved Alicia’s ass… the weight of it and how soft and malleable it was beneath her hands. She could hold onto it all day.

Her finger slides down the edge of Alicia’s lace panty until it dips just below her cheek and she can feel the heat coming off of her center. Alicia’s breath turns ragged and the blonde can feel her heartbeat pounding against her chest. She whines into Elyza’s mouth and she dips her finger lower to slide along her covered center, up the slit to circle at the sensitive little bud, making Alicia moan and buck her hips. She leans into Elyza and it presses against her shoulder, her knee pressing into her rib and all she can do is wheeze out a groan before pushing the girl’s weight off of her.

“Shit, I’m sorry, babe,” Alicia breaths out, still flushed from the blonde girl’s ministrations. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean-”

Elyza silences her with a kiss. “It’s okay, it was an accident. Besides… I’m not gonna complain about how we got there.” She smirks at the blush that crawls up Alicia’s cheeks, pulling her in for another kiss until the straining becomes too painful. She pulls back with a smile on her face regardless and pats on Alicia’s thigh to get her off. “We should go downstairs and get breakfast. You’re mother just forgave me… I don’t want to give her a reason to hate me again.”

Alicia laughs. “She won’t hate you. She never really did. And I can tell by her apology that she really did mean it.”

“So you heard that?” Elyza’s brow quirks upwards. “You were faking being asleep?”

“Only for a little bit,” Alicia hums with a shrug before climbing off the bed and stretching.

Elyza happily enjoyed the view as she watched the girl’s shirt ride up, exposing some of her toned stomach and the firmness of her ass filling out her shorts. “So… you called me ‘babe’, huh?”

It makes Alicia pause mid-stretch and turn to the girl. “Well… you always call me names. I thought it only fair.” She smirks and leans over the bed, pulling in close to Elyza’s face.

“I like it,” Elyza responds, stealing a kiss as she pulls at Alicia’s lower lip with her teeth. “But we need to eat right now,” she says suddenly, releasing her.

She pulls back the covers and Alicia immediately stops her. “Uh… what do you think you’re doing?”

“Getting up to go eat downstairs, love,” she says with a laugh.

Alicia shakes her head and pulls the covers back over Elyza’s body. “Nope. You are going to stay in bed. You’re weak and you need to rest.” Elyza sticks out her lips in a pout. “If you’re good… maybe you will see me as a… candy stripper, as you put it.” The blonde’s eyes go wide and her mouth drops open in a pant and it makes Alicia laugh out loud. “That’s what I thought,” she hums, pressing a gentle kiss against Elyza’s lips before running off downstairs for breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes? How did we like that? Good? Bad?
> 
> I know I'm trash for taking so long, please take it easy on me lol
> 
> But if you do want to yell at me shoot me some anon hate over at my Tumblr (myheart-islike-astallion)


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